Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o has hit out at Barcelona
coach Frank Rijkaard for saying he refused to play in Sunday's 2-0
win over Racing Santander. Rijkaard claimed the 25-year-old "didn't
want to" come on as a second-half substitute. But Eto'o said:
"Telling a news conference I didn't want to play is the behaviour
of a bad person.
"I've always thought about the group first. If anybody has balls,
they should tell it to me face-to-face." Rijkaard had asked Eto'o,
who recently returned to action after four months out with a knee
injury, to come on in the closing minutes at the Nou Camp but the
striker apparently rejected the request.
"Eto'o warmed up but afterwards told (assistant coach) Eusebio he
did not want to come on," said Rijkaard after the game. "I think
it's a shame because every minute, every moment, can be
important... I haven't spoken with him but I'm always prepared to
talk to the players."
Ronaldinho was also critical of Eto'o after the game, suggesting
the striker had been inconsiderate to his team-mates. But Eto'o
responded: "If a team-mate says that you must think of the team,
it's up to him to think of the team. Personally I always think
first about the group and then money."
However, Eto'o, last season's top scorer in La Liga, said a major
rift had developed at the Catalan giants. "There's a division in
the changing room between two clans: one is the president's and the
other is someone else's," he said. "This is not my war, this is a
war. I'm in the middle of a war between two people and I'm the one
who is taking all the punishment. But I will return and return to
play."
Reports suggest the rift is between supporters of president Joan
Laporta and those of former vice-president Sandro Rosell, who left
the club after a disagreement with Laporta.
Laporta earlier spoke out in support of Eto'o, denying the striker
had refused to play on Sunday. "His knee needs time to warm up and
he didn't have enough time. He preferred to be careful," Laporta
told Spanish newspaper Marca. "He didn't do anything inappropriate
or wrong. There is no way it can be deduced that Eto'o refused to
play soccer for Barcelona."
Eto'o did not attend training on Monday, choosing instead to work
in the gym - apparently because of a painful knee.