Tom Pope lost 4-1 to Manchester City on Saturday with Port Vale, but he was nevertheless the lead player in the third round of the FA Cup. The 34-year-old striker scored and thus made his big talk of seven months earlier on Twitter.
In June, after seeing the summary of the Netherlands-England Nations League game (3-1), Pope made it clear that he considered the English international and City defender John Stones to be a poor defender.
“I know I am a League Two player and he plays for England, earns £ 150,000 a week and is a million times better than me, but I would love to play against John Stones every week. I would be 40 times a week season scoring! ” wrote Pope on Twitter.
The stubborn striker celebrated his goal – good for 1-1 – particularly exuberant. For a very long time Port Vale was unable to enjoy the score, as Sergio Agüero quickly made it 2-1. City then went on to 4-1 and recorded a simple win.
“Make it 50 rather than 40”
For Pope, the competition could certainly not go wrong. He let himself be heard afterwards on Twitter. “I would like to say that I was completely wrong. I would definitely not make forty against Stones, rather fifty.”
The assertive captain was a little more cautious against the press. “My goal was worth five minutes, because after that City already scored the second. It’s always nice to make it, because then you start to believe in a stunt. They cruelly ended that dream.”
In spite of all the big boasting, Pope said he never expected to score against the million formation. “I was happy that I was able to hit the ball a few times. I never dared to dream of scoring”, said the striker, who after the shirt swapped with former PSV player Oleksandr Zinchenko. “The rest didn’t feel like it.”
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