Defoe played for Spurs between 2004 and 2008, and between 2009 and 2014, taking part in the Champions League during his second spell.
Tottenham Hotspur ex-player Jermain Defoe has reminisced over a moment in the Lilywhites shirt which he says he will “never forget” (official Spurs website).
The England striker enjoyed two fruitful spells with the North Londoners between 2004 and 2008, and between 2009 and 2014, making upwards of 350 appearances and scoring 143 goals according to the official Spurs website.
Tottenham have become Champions League regulars over the past few years but going back to 2010, they were embarking on their first participation in the rebranded competition and only their second time in Europe’s elite club tournament, having taken part in the 1961-62 European Cup previously.
However, Spurs had a playoff with Swiss side Young Boys to contend with first if they were to reach the group stages, and in the first leg, they went down three goals inside 30 minutes before eventually pulling two back for a 3-2 first-leg deficit, so there were nerves going into the second leg at White Hart Lane.
Peter Crouch settled nerves with an early goal and went on to score a hat-trick, but Defoe’s effort, in which he controlled Gareth Bale’s pass, raced away from his marker and firing home off the post from the edge of the box, had put them in the lead for the first time in the tie, and with a 6-3 aggregate win, they were in the group stages (BBC Sport).
“It was such an important game and the goal, I was off balance after the turn and I had to quickly compose myself because I wanted to finish that chance and get us ahead in the tie,” Defoe told the official Spurs website. “I wanted to beat the goalkeeper at his near post and I hit it perfectly, in off the post. I watched it again the other day! I was watching my ‘100 goals’ DVD with my nephew!
“Those nights – the atmosphere, the all-white kit, under the lights in the Champions League – there is no better feeling. The main thing was to get into the Champions League. We wanted to get in there and compete at that level. Not reaching the group stage would have been a nightmare and that’s why that goal is so special for me, my first in the Champions League. I’ll never forget that goal.”
That season, Tottenham went on a memorable run with victories over Inter, Twente and Werder Bremen at home and AC Milan away in the last 16 before being knocked out by European giants Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.
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