Samuel Eto’o accuses teammates of not passing to him Samuel Eto’o has accused some of his Cameroon teammates of refusing to pass to him during their World Cup playoff against Tunisia. Ahead of the second leg of the tie on Sunday, the 32-year-old claims that he had known in advance of the attempt to undermine him and had to do more work himself to drop deep and get the ball. “It’s true and regrettable,” Eto’o told the press, “and when you watched me retreating to the midfield to chase the ball, it’s because I heard of the plot. Football is a collective sport. You are obliged to pass the ball even to your worst enemy, especially when he is in a good position to receive it. “It is time to put all these issues behind us and concentrate on Sunday’s match. We need to unite, chat during the game and do our best to obtain the result that the entire nation is expecting from us and, since our coach is right here, I want him to help stop the act of not passing the ball to a player on the field.” If they didn’t pass to Eto’o during the last match, it’s hard to believe they will be laying them on a plate this time round. However, boss Volker Finke argued immediately against Eto’os claims, insisting that he never noticed such a situation during the 0-0 draw. “I didn’t see anything of such a nature during that match,” the German declared. “Each of you can go and watch the video once more. I have watched it over again for about six to seven times. I never noticed any time when a player refused to pass the ball to Eto’o or any other player. “There could be some issues between the players but nobody refused to kick the ball to Eto’o during that encounter. To me it sounds much like a kindergarten talk.” Indeed it does. Although given the number of times Eto’o has retired from the national team, one could understand why some of his teammates might wish to teach him a lesson. Paolo Di Canio hits back in O’Neill row Former Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio has hit back at Martin O’Neill’s criticism of his time at the Premier League club. O’Neill, who was sacked by Sunderland in March and replaced by Di Canio, called the Italian a ‘managerial charlatan’ last week. “I don’t know if he knows the meaning of this word charlatan,” Di Canio said in an interview with Sky Sports News. “Probably I can teach him, even if I am not English. “I respect the opinion of manager Martin O’Neill but the fact that he spoke after six months, not straight away, that proves what kind of level he is. He is not very big.” So, not too much respect at al then. “A charlatan is a manager who spends £40 million to be a top 10 club and then sees the club sink into the relegation zone,” the 45-year-old added. You have to say, he has a point. Di Canio, who had previously coached third division Swindon Town, questioned the fitness of the Sunderland players when he took over from O’Neill and he remains convinced that the players were unfit. “The fitness level wasn’t bad, it was pathetic,” the former striker said. “I had players who told me they had cramps from driving the car,” he said. “I had three players with injuries in the calf after 20 minutes of a game. Six different players with problems means they were not fit.” Di Canio helped keep Sunderland in the Premier League last season but was sacked five games into the current campaign following a 3-0 loss at West Bromwich Albion which left the club bottom of the table on one point. According to reports there had been a huge training ground bust-up the day after the defeat, but the Italian denied this had happened. “It never happened. There was a typical meeting that I used to have the day after every game to see the clips, to analyze the game. Maybe there was opinion but this happens in every good family,” he said. Despite his first managerial post at a Premier League club ending in disastrously, Do Canio was confident of working in England again. “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. I can’t wait to have another chance with the right people that let me work in my way,” he said. “Now I feel a better manager than before, much better. “Even if I have requests from around Europe I don’t go. I understand that in England there is not anymore space for me so I’ll wait. “It would be stupid for some chairman if they don’t call me. Even if it’s at a Championship club with a project.”
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 20:01:08 +0000
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