IF only Kevin Danso had given the ball a roundhouse kick like one of his martial-arts heroes against Brighton and booted it into touch.
Unfortunately, the defender has had to stew all week on his decision not to, which led to Albion flooring Spurs with a 95th-minute leveller to draw 2-2.
Tottenham are set to make a “visible stand” against racism ahead of their Wolves clashCredit: Refer to source
Spurs’ Kevin Danso has seen sickening racist abuse online this week Credit: Getty
It took the shine off Danso’s otherwise “fantastic, not good, fantastic” performance, as his boss labelled it on Friday.
And, sadly, it prompted from morons online in his direction after the game.
Sources close to Danso say he has been unfazed by the bigoted taunts, if understandably dismayed by them, and will not let the idiots affect his focus in Spurs’ battle against the drop.
He is ready to be thrust back into the action on Saturday at relegated Wolves, the club he almost joined before Tottenham hijacked the move in January 2025.
With Spurs two points from safety with five games to play, anything less than a victory at Molineux has the potential to KO Tottenham’s belief in staying up, even if mathematically they would be far from finished.
Tottenham’s players will wear shirts with the message ‘Spurs against racism’ in their warm-up at Molineux in support of Danso.
In a statement on X, the club said: “Following the abhorrent racist abuse suffered by Kevin Danso on social media after the Brighton match, the Club is taking a visible stand this weekend.
“We want to make it clear to the world that if anyone thinks it’s ok to racially abuse our players on social media, we will take the strongest possible action.”
Speaking about Danso after his difficult week, Spurs boss Roberto De Zerbi said: “I was very annoyed by the racist insult towards Kevin, but he has to be calm. I’m proud for him.
“He played a fantastic game, not a good game, a fantastic game.
“It was important for the result, but I don’t consider one mistake so important.
“I consider the attitude, I consider the behaviour on the pitch, the quality in which he played that game, the personality while he played that game.
“He will be here next season because he’s a good guy.
“He’s a very good player and every one of us is lucky to work with him.”
Danso confessed his love of martial-arts movies to SunSport during an , specifically the flicks of Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Jean Claude Van Damme.
He claimed to have watched Chan’s ‘Drunken Master’ “like 200 times” and wanted to be an action star as a kid ahead of being a footballer.
Tottenham will face relegated Wolves on Saturday Credit: Alamy
Those films are still on in his house constantly now and you can guarantee the viewing numbers will have gone up this week.
Because after the punishing seven days he has had, his favourite action stars would have provided the perfect inspiration to get back up and fight on.
As Danso revealed back then: “In all those action movies (the hero) would get down and then they would get back up, that always appealed to me.”
The location of that interview was at homeless charity The Passage near London Victoria, for whom he is now an ambassador, following similar altruistic work in Austria and Ghana.
It showed how Danso is far from the flash and often unfair stereotype of a Premier League footballer – and in fact could have been a professional in a very different sport altogether.
He shone with a rugby ball in his hands as a kid and had scholarship offers from professional clubs and private schools, before focusing solely on the Beautiful Game.
A product of MK Dons, his first taste of Premier League was a rather forgettable loan spell with Southampton during the Covid-interrupted season of 2020.
Fast forward five years and he was in a much better place to handle our top flight after honing his craft with Lens in France, and looked set to come back with a move to .
His proposed switch to Wanderers was so close that a medical was lined up, but in snuck Spurs at the 11th hour.
Danso’s time in N17 has been one largely of playing the role of first sub at centre-back.
Albeit with the amount of injuries Spurs always seem to sustain, it has still meant a decent amount of game-time.
Yet now captain is out for the rest of the season with a crocked knee, it is Danso’s time in the spotlight.
Well-liked among the dressing room for his demeanour and ability to communicate – he speaks English, French, German and Ghanaian and has been trying to learn Spanish – he will have the backing to step up.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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