Patrick Vieira may be Marco Materazzi’s Inter teammate, but that doesn’t mean they’re friends. “I will never sit at a table with him.”
The furore over that infamous Zinedine Zidane head butt has flared up again ahead of the September 8 Euro 2008 qualifier with France.
Above all, now Matrix has finally revealed what he said to spark off that reaction from the former Juventus star, Vieira has rushed to Zizou’s defence.
“I think Materazzi is a great player who had an excellent World Cup and scored a goal in the Final,” said Vieira in an interview on French television TF1.
“There are those who love him and those who hate him. I will only say that, as far as I am concerned, I will never sit at a dinner table with him.”
Considering the two players have been teammates at Inter for a year and won the Scudetto together, that is an extremely damning statement to give to the Press.
The ex-Arsenal legend also had problems in the past with another Nerazzurri figure, assistant manager Sinisa Mihajlovic, but seems to have put that behind him.
France boss Raymond Domenech, who has been called by UEFA to provide proof of his allegations that Italy “bought the referee” in an Under-21 match in 1999, cranked up the tension further.
“That story has made a lot of noise over there,” Vieira told the French media. “They are trying to increase the tension because this game on September 8 is very important to them. It’s more decisive for Italy than France, as they absolutely cannot afford to lose.”
The two sides are battling for the leadership of Group B and a victory would catapult the Azzurri to the top spot.
“We must remain concentrated on the field and not think about anything else. I am not surprised they chose San Siro as the venue, this is a mythical stadium where there will be 80,000 fans.”
channel4.com
The furore over that infamous Zinedine Zidane head butt has flared up again ahead of the September 8 Euro 2008 qualifier with France.
Above all, now Matrix has finally revealed what he said to spark off that reaction from the former Juventus star, Vieira has rushed to Zizou’s defence.
“I think Materazzi is a great player who had an excellent World Cup and scored a goal in the Final,” said Vieira in an interview on French television TF1.
“There are those who love him and those who hate him. I will only say that, as far as I am concerned, I will never sit at a dinner table with him.”
Considering the two players have been teammates at Inter for a year and won the Scudetto together, that is an extremely damning statement to give to the Press.
The ex-Arsenal legend also had problems in the past with another Nerazzurri figure, assistant manager Sinisa Mihajlovic, but seems to have put that behind him.
France boss Raymond Domenech, who has been called by UEFA to provide proof of his allegations that Italy “bought the referee” in an Under-21 match in 1999, cranked up the tension further.
“That story has made a lot of noise over there,” Vieira told the French media. “They are trying to increase the tension because this game on September 8 is very important to them. It’s more decisive for Italy than France, as they absolutely cannot afford to lose.”
The two sides are battling for the leadership of Group B and a victory would catapult the Azzurri to the top spot.
“We must remain concentrated on the field and not think about anything else. I am not surprised they chose San Siro as the venue, this is a mythical stadium where there will be 80,000 fans.”
channel4.com
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The better for us to laugh at (them).
