Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o claims his Cameroon team-mates conspired to not pass him the ball in last month’s World Cup qualification playoff first leg.
Ahead of today’s second leg, Eto’o says his colleague were refusing to pass to him in the previous game.
He said: “It’s true and regrettable. 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.”
But Eto’o’s concerns were dismissed as ‘kindergarten talk’ by Cameroon coach Volker Finke.
He said: “I didn’t see anything of such a nature during that match.
“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.”
The supposed animosity towards the 32-year-old Blues striker is said to stem from his flexible approach to international retirement.
