Saturday 22 January 2011

Harry Redknapp mugged in Spain

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has revealed he was mugged while attending a football match in Spain on Thursday. Redknapp, 63, was in Madrid to see  the Spanish capital's two main teams, Real and Atletico (Diego Forlan is a potential Spurs transfer target), play in the Copa del Rey.

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“I'm walking round the outside of the stadium, it's a fantastic atmosphere, there's all little stalls there selling sweets. I just probably looked stupid or something. I got some sweets, me and Kevin, and it was so packed. The next thing there's two guys on their knees in front of me and I felt someone pull my overcoat. I thought 'what are you doing?'. The next thing he's got my keys on the floor.

"I thought 'is he a blind man or someone having trouble walking properly? What are they doing, these two blokes? I'm going 'let go of my trousers', pushing them away. While I'm doing that they're rifling my pockets, there were about six of them. And then they went. I thought 'what are they doing?

“I went to put my hand in my pockets and realised what they'd done. They took everything. All my money, credit cards, everything really. I just probably looked stupid or something, and they thought 'here's one here, he's not Spanish, obviously and we're looking for a foreigner'."

The Spurs manager said he did not believe the muggers knew who he was. Real Madrid won the match at Atletico's Vicente Calderon Stadium 1-0. Redknapp said the incident unsettled him and he left about 15 minutes before the end of the game, borrowing money from Bond for a cab.