|
Home>News Center>Sports | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Owen: No disrespect shown
Michael Owen has responded to Carlos Alberto's astonishing attack on him by insisting he had never predicted a five-goal haul against Azerbaijan.
Owen, who carefully avoided making a pre-match vow to match Malcolm Macdonald's mark of five goals in an England game, missed several chances and was ruled out of the next qualifier in Wales with a booking. But Carlos Alberto, clearly misguided by pre-match reports into believing Owen had predicted a five-goal salvo, asked: 'Who is this midget anyway, what has he ever won?' He went on to say that Owen "should wash his tongue" and that he should "clean David Beckham's boots". Owen reacted to the withering personal criticism today with a statement. He said: "If he (Carlos Alberto) checks my pre-match quotes he will realise that I never said anything about scoring five goals - I would never be so disrespectful. "He would, though, be perfectly within his rights to criticise my performance - I've certainly had better games in an England shirt." "Fortunately I am a mentally strong person and believe I will learn from the experience and continue to improve as a player and person because of it." In his post-mach press conference rant Carlos Alberto said of Owen: "This man - what's his name? The number 10, the small one who doesn't play in the Real Madrid first team - said that if Poland beat Azerbaijan 8-0, England should score at least eight and he'd score five of them." "But he must respect everyone. Who is Michael Owen anyway? What has he ever won in football? He plays for Real Madrid but he is always on the bench." "It is not right for him to say that he can score five goals against Azerbaijan. Where are those five goals tonight? " "He didn't score one. Sven-Goran Eriksson is a good man, he should teach him to respect everyone. Who is he anyway? Who is he? " "I have a history in football but what is the history of this guy, this midget? He ought to clean his tongue and wash the boots of David Beckham as they are so wet tonight." Owen had done little to earn Carlos Alberto's wrath in the build-up to the game, having pointedly failed to respond to questions about Macdonald's record, dating back to 1975 against Cyprus. "I wasn't aware that five was the record and that's a fantastic feat. I've scored four goals a couple of times before, but I don't remember ever scoring five in a game," he had said on Monday. "But 8-0 against Poland has certainly got everyone thinking there could be a few goals about. " "Many years ago, there were plenty of cricket scores in international football and these chances are few and far between, but winning the game is the most important thing." Something was, however, then lost in translation, prompting Carlos Alberto to conclude: "He is not a man. I would say this to his face if he was here." "I just hope he is back on the bench when Real Madrid play this weekend." Eriksson jumped to the defence of Owen, who has previously been voted European player of the year and won several cups with Liverpool. The England coach, who seemed bemused by the ferocity of Carlos Alberto's attack, backed Owen saying: 'From what I know about Michael Owen, he would never say things like that. It's not his style. "He might have said that he hoped he would score a lot of goals, but he would never have said that he would go out and score five goals or whatever. I'm sorry if there was any misunderstanding."
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
