Former United States youth international Brandon Austin waited around a decade for his first start for Tottenham.
When he got it, the 25-year-old goalkeeper quickly found out how unforgiving the Premier League is.
Austin, who possesses dual American/English nationality and once played for the U.S. under 18s, conceded in the sixth minute of his senior debut for Spurs when England winger Anthony Gordon drove a low shot into the far corner for Newcastle to make it 1-1.
It was the first shot Austin faced.
Austin and Tottenham wound up losing 2-1.
Austin was playing because first-choice goalkeeper Vicario has been out injured and back-up Fraser Forster fell ill on the eve of the match.
Born outside London, Austin was previously with Chelsea before joining Tottenham’s youth set-up. He was part of the basketball team at his school and that’s no surprise – his father, Neville, was a pro basketball player, representing England having played collegiately for the Georgia Bulldogs.
Brandon Austin has played for Spurs’ youth teams from 2014 and has been a regular member of the first-team squad since returning from a loan spell at Orlando City in 2021. He has appeared in Tottenham’s senior matchday squad on 78 occasions prior to his debut, the club said.
“He's had to be patient — you never know when these opportunities are going to come around,” Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said, “but it did today and he handled it really well and it's a credit to him.”
This could yet prove to be his only appearance for Tottenham, which has been linked with the signing of another goalkeeper with Vicario injured.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Steve Douglas, The Associated Press
