England side Tottenham Hotspurs pulled a unexpected move by thrashing Germany league leading Borussia Dortmund in a UEFA Championship tie bringing hopes in a return leg a month away.
In an interview, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said “people underestimate us” and called his players “heroes” after they beat Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund 3-0 in the Champions League last-16 first leg.
Son Heung-min, Jan Vertonghen and Fernando Llorente scored as Spurs dominated the second half at Wembley.
“The team is fighting. I am so proud,” said Pochettino.
“They deserve full credit. What they are doing is amazing.”
Spurs completed an unlikely turnaround to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition having collected only one point from their first three group games.
They were without top goalscorer Harry Kane and midfielder Dele Alli at Wembley on Wednesday but still managed to beat a Dortmund side who have reached this stage in the Champions League in five of the past six seasons.
South Korean forward Son – who has scored four goals in as many games since his return from the Asian Cup – gave Tottenham a “massive boost” by scoring the first goal, said Pochettino.
“Son was fantastic again. I think he is a player that provides the team with a lot of things,” said Pochettino.
“He has a smile and has lots of energy. His performances every game are improving and improving.”
Despite a comfortable first-leg victory, Pochettino still believes there is “a lot of work to do” to progress to the quarter-finals.The second leg is on 5 March at Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion in Germany.
“3-0 is a very good result but at the same time I think we need to think that we need to finish the job,” added Pochettino.
“Always when we play this competition and against a good side like Dortmund it is very difficult.”
The Spurs boss appeared to make some tactical changes at half-time and said he “wanted to make the best decision” to turn the performance around.
“We spoke about our defensive positions and changed things a little. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t,” said the Argentine.
“We have a lot of talented players. We have an unbelievable squad. I am happy with all the players. The only problem is that we can only play 11 players and not 22.”