Ange Postecoglou dealt Rodrigo Bentancur Tottenham injury scare in Copa America semi-final clash

Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham have been handed a scare ahead of the new season after Rodrigo Bentancur was forced off through injury in Uruguay's Copa America semi-final defeat to Colombia. Named in Marcelo Bielsa's starting XI for the first time in the tournament, the Spurs midfielder would only be on the pitch for 34 minutes following a collision with teammate Mathias Olivera.

As Colombia player Jhon Arias ran through the middle of the pitch with the ball on 24 minutes, both Bentancur and Olivera slid in to win possession but unfortunately collided with each other. Bentancur took the brunt of the impact as he appeared to receive a blow to his right leg and subsequently remained on the ground.

Finally getting back to his feet to play on but in some discomfort, the Spurs ace did manage to carry on for a further ten minutes before looking towards Bielsa and indicating that he had to come off. Bentancur was consoled by a number of his teammates as he exited the field and could be seen on the bench in tears once he took his spot in the dugout.

Four minutes after Bentancur's exit from the field of play, Jefferson Lerma scored the only goal of the game for Colombia as they held on to win with ten men despite Daniel Munoz seeing red in first-half stoppage time. The defeat in Charlotte means that Bentancur misses out on a Copa America final clash against Tottenham teammates Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso after Argentina beat Canada in the other semi-final tie.

Uruguay, however, do face one more game in the tournament as they now come up against Canada in a third-place play-off match on Saturday evening in the United States.

Postecoglou and all at Tottenham will be hoping for positive news regarding the injury Bentancur sustained on Wednesday evening as they prepare for the 2024/25 campaign. The vast majority of the Tottenham squad are now back at Hotspur Way for pre-season training, with their first summer friendly coming next Wednesday as they travel to Edinburgh to take on Hearts.

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For Bentancur, he will be hoping for some luck on the injury front for once after such a frustrating time over the past two seasons. Facing a long spell on the sidelines after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in a defeat against Leicester City in February 2023, he then suffered an ankle issue last November in what was his fourth game back since returning from his ACL injury.

Bentancur made a swift recovery and returned to the pitch one month later, going on to feature in Tottenham's remaining 21 games of the 2023/24 campaign. Unable to rediscover his previous form following his comeback, the 2024/25 season was always viewed by many as the year when Tottenham would see the 27-year-old at his best once again.

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Following his latest injury blow, all at Tottenham will have their fingers crossed that it doesn't lead to a spell on the sidelines so that he can indeed go on to play a big part for the team, starting in the opening game of the new term against Leicester City on Monday, August 19.

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