Azerbaijan boss Carlos Alberto launched an astonishing outburst directed at
"midget" Michael Owen as he condemned the England striker for supposedly
vowing to score five times at St James' Park.
The Brazilian legend, who led his country to World Cup success in 1970,
dismissed Owen's talent as he asked: "Who is he anyway, what has he ever won?
He should wash his tongue and clean David Beckham's boots."
Carlos Alberto had been mistakenly angered by reading reports of Owen's
pre-match press conference in which he was asked about breaking Malcolm
Macdonald's record of five goals in an England game.
However, something must have been lost in translation as Owen never made the
claim which so angered the Azerbaijan boss.
Carlos Alberto nevertheless embarked on a bizarre 10-minute rant after his
side's 2-0 defeat at St James' Park, in which Owen squandered several chances to
match Alan Shearer's England goals record.
The outspoken Azerbaijan boss declared: "I have been in this life for 45
years.
"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 goals 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 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?"
Owen has been voted European footballer of the year and has won several cups
with Liverpool, but not even those club honours were enough to save him from
this almost vitriolic outburst.
"I have a history in football but what is the history of this guy? He ought
to clean his tongue," added Carlos Alberto, now well into his stride.
"I don't accept this, he is not a man. I would say this to his face if he was
here. I hope he is back on the bench when Real Madrid play this weekend.
"This man, this midget, I refuse to talk about him any more. I will talk
about Beckham, Rooney, Ferdinand or Lampard, but not this midget. This midget
ought to clean the boots of Beckham as they are so wet tonight."
Owen was immediately defended by England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, who
appeared somewhat bemused by the ferocity of Carlos Alberto's attack.
"From what I know about Michael Owen, he would never say things like that.
That's not his style," responded Eriksson.
"He never said he would score five goals against any team. That's not Michael
Owen. I'm sorry if there was any misunderstanding."
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."
Not that Carlos Alberto can have been reading that transcript, although the
Brazilian was rather more diplomatic about England's World Cup hopes.
"England deserved to win as they have a wonderful team. I'm not jealous of
this guy [Owen] but I am jealous of Mr Eriksson," he added.
"England have improved since the World Cup and tonight they played the kind
of football that I love to see. If they continue to improve, they are good
enough to reach the World Cup final in Germany."
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