Andre Villas-Boas says Belgian is a ‘great person’ after Torres incident.
Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas has defended Jan Vertonghen in the wake of Saturday’s clash with Chelsea striker Fernando Torres in the 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.
The Belgium international was embroiled in a bitter personal battle with Torres during the second half, which culminated in the Spaniard’s dismissal for two bookable offences – both fouls on Vertonghen.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho labelled the Spurs defender a ‘disgrace’ after the match for play action but television footage showed Torres clawed at Vertonghen’s face shortly before his first booking – an incident which the FA have deemed merits no further disciplinary action.
Villas-Boas, however, has praised Vertonghen’s character.
“Well I think the incident is pretty clear and people must draw their own conclusions from what they saw,” the Portuguese told Sky Sports News.
“What we have with Jan, he is only in his second year and he has become the captain of Spurs as well. He is one of our captains elected by myself and by the club because he has been that type of leader and that type of person for his last years with the national team and with Ajax. So he is a person that we hold high in the team.
“I’m extremely happy that most of the media saw the incident, knows about Jan’s values and have decided to draw positive conclusions about him and about his character.
“So that’s the end of the matter for us. We believe in the player a lot and we believe he is more than a great player and a great person.”
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