Spurs star surprises Saturday night drinkers in Shoreditch bar

Benoit Assou-Ekotto in training with Spurs. Photo: Steve Drew/EMPICS Sport EMPICS Sport

Spurs defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto paid a surprise visit to Bar Kick in Shoreditch on Saturday night, challenging the London crowd to games of table football - and demolishing them all.

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The 28-year-old full-back had been ill for two days but was on top form as he made an impromptu visit to Shoreditch High Street in east London - and he proved that he is just as adept at table football as he is at the real thing.

Robbie Hopper, 26, from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, arrived at the bar at 9pm.

He said: “I went over to the tables to ask if I could play the next game, and then I realised I was talking to Benoit Assou-Ekotto. He said ‘sure, of course’.

“We didn’t actually end up playing against him, but we were on the next table and he and his friend were just amazing. We’ve got a table at work so we play quite a lot, but he was incredible – the best we’ve ever seen.

“People were queuing up to play him – all good players, people who knew what they were doing. It was ‘winner stays on’ and he must have stayed on that table for at least an hour and a half - maybe two! No-one could beat him.

“Sometimes he was playing with his friend, who I didn’t recognise, and sometimes by himself. They were really cagey games and they went on for five to 10 minutes, but he always won.

“He was drinking some kind of pink cocktail – I don’t know whether it was alcoholic or not.

“People asked him for photos and he was always happy to do it and speak to them. He was very receptive to all of that - it was really nice to see. We went downstairs for a while and when we came back up around 11.30 he was gone.”

Assou-Ekotto, who has a reputation for a down-to-earth lifestyle which includes travelling around London on the tube, was back in training on Sunday morning.

Last night he changed his Twitter profile picture to a photo of himself next to the football tables in the bar and tweeted: “Shoreditch! This is the place!!! Luv it!!! LoL”

Follow me on Twitter @BenPearceSpurs