Spurs are to play in Israel this summer following their tour to Korea

Jose’s shot at revenge? Tottenham will face Roma and their former manager in a pre-season friendly in Israel this summer, with Antonio Conte to lock horns with the Mourinho after his Europa Conference League triumph

  • Tottenham are to play Roma at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa on 30 July
  • The short trip to Israel will follow the main pre-season tour to Korea
  • It will be Tottenham’s fourth meeting with Roma, with the previous three all coming in pre-season

Tottenham Hotspur are to travel to Israel this summer for a one-off fixture where they will play former manager Jose Mourinho’s Roma side.

Spurs, who pipped Arsenal to the fourth and final Champions League spot on Sunday, announced the plans for their last friendly match before the 2022/23 season begins. 

The match, scheduled to take place on July 30, will pit Antonio Conte and Mourinho against each other once again, with many of their previous meetings ending in fireworks. 

Jose Mourinho (L) and Antonio Conte (R) have had some fiery meetings in the past

The game will take place at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa. 

Fabio Paratici, Spurs’ sporting managing director, said: ‘We are delighted to be heading to Israel as the final part of our pre-season preparations and I would like to thank MTR7 for providing the opportunity for the Club to visit in July.

‘We are looking forward to an exciting fixture against a strong opponent in AS Roma. 

Antonio Conte's (L) side will travel to Korea before going to Scotland and then on to Israel

Antonio Conte’s (L) side will travel to Korea before going to Scotland and then on to Israel

‘It will provide good preparation for the start of the new season the following weekend, as we look to build on a strong 2021/22 season.’

The Spurs statement says it will be the club’s seventh visit to the country, with the last one coming in 2007 when met Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Uefa Cup.  

The backdrop to the fixture is it is the first meeting between Mourinho and Spurs since his sacking merely a week prior to Tottenham’s Carabao Cup final meeting with Manchester City in April 2021.

Mourinho had endured a tough few months, having guided Spurs to the top of the league in November of that season they went on a poor of results that was earmarked by some rather drab football. 

Jose Mourinho saw his Roma side overcome Feyenoord on Wednesday night in Tirana, Albania

Jose Mourinho saw his Roma side overcome Feyenoord on Wednesday night in Tirana, Albania

Jose Mourinho endured a tough spell at Spurs, with much of his time there seeing games being played behind closed doors

Jose Mourinho endured a tough spell at Spurs, with much of his time there seeing games being played behind closed doors

Harry Kane revealed in the aftermath of Mourinho’s sacking that Spurs lacking ‘leaders’ meant the Portuguese’s tenure ‘didn’t work’. 

He said: ‘Obviously [with] Mauricio [Pochettino] we did a lot of gym work, it was a lot gym base whereas Jose [Mourinho] wasn’t so much into that but Jose obviously expected us to be men and act like men on the pitch, have leaders on the pitch. 

‘To be honest, that’s probably where it didn’t quite work out with Jose we didn’t quite have enough leadership that we needed at the time,’ he added. 

It is likely the meeting in Israel will be a lot more sedate than previous clashes between the two clubs

It is likely the meeting in Israel will be a lot more sedate than previous clashes between the two clubs

‘Obviously the club was in a difficult stage, with Mauricio getting sacked it’s never easy a new manager coming in.’

With the two parties having gone their separate ways, both have enjoyed relative success. Spurs, under Conte, having sacked Nuno Espirito Santo, qualified for the Champions League while Mourinho won Roma their first European title since the 1960s with a 1-0 win over Feyenoord in Tirana on Wednesday night in the Europa Conference League.

Previous meetings between the two managers have been characterised by some tetchy moments on the touchline. 

Harry Kane, a star attraction on any pre-season tour, has enjoyed his time under Antonio Conte having said that he liked playing under Jose Mourinho

Harry Kane, a star attraction on any pre-season tour, has enjoyed his time under Antonio Conte having said that he liked playing under Jose Mourinho

Notably when Mourinho took his Manchester United side to Stamford Bridge in October 2016 he told Conte and his backroom staff to show him more respect after Chelsea beat them 4-0. 

‘It’s just my opinion, but don’t do that at 4-0. You can at 1-0, but at 4-0 it’s humiliation,’ Mourinho told the Italian after Conte tried to whip up the Chelsea crowd following N’Golo Kante’s goal. 

The Portuguese and Italian also had to be separated during Chelsea’s 2017 FA Cup quarter-final victory over Manchester United.  

Elsewhere on their summer tour, Conte’s side travel to Korea for two games against Team K League and Sevilla before returning to the UK where they will face Europa League runners up Rangers at Ibrox. 

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