Club over country

Obligations in Spain a sore spot during Confed Cup

LYON, France (AP) -- The Confederations Cup has turned into yet another episode in the club vs. country saga.

On Wednesday, Samuel Eto'o became the latest victim of the ongoing battle, walking out on Cameroon a day before its semifinals match against Colombia and leaving for his Spanish club Real Mallorca to prepare for Saturday's King's Cup final.

Eto'o, who spearheaded Cameroon's run through the group stage of the eight-nation competition, said he would be available for Sunday's final, should the African champion beat Colombia on Thursday.

Colombia also has a player at Real Mallorca, but coach Francisco Maturana has decided against calling up Harold Lozano the two-week tournament.

Throughout the Confederations Cup, Spain has been a sore issue and has affected the outcome of the tournament in more than one way.

Brazil was without Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos, the key players in Brazil's World Cup run this year. Because of the extreme length of the Spanish league season, they had to stay with Real Madrid until Sunday's Primera Division decider.

Club or country? Ronaldo had no doubt. "I had much more important objectives, like winning La Liga, so I could not help the national team," he told the sports paper L'Equipe.

He won the title with Real on Sunday, while the Selecao was eliminated on Monday.

"I will have plenty of other opportunities again to play with the national team," he said.

While Brazil was ridiculed by its media, Zinedine Zidane also chose Real over the French national team. Les Bleus though, have won all their games so far in the tournament and are favored to beat Turkey in the other semifinal on Thursday.

Zidane even phoned his French teammates after winning the title with Real to give them a moral boost.

Real Sociedad's Nihat Kahveci was expected to arrive Wednesday to reinforce the Turkish team. Fighting for the Spanish title until the final round, he was supposed to step in for Turkey to give it a more offensive push.

But in his last game for Sociedad, he sustained a light left thigh injury and decided against coming to France.

"He's no longer in Spain, he's in Istanbul," Turkish coach Senol Gunes said. "If we thought he could contribute to the Turkish campaign we would ask him to come but it's best if he recovers."

Eto'o's season, meanwhile, just goes on. The 22-year old is now taking the success of his national team to Mallorca for the Cup final against Recreativo Huelva.

There were rumors that Eto'o would quickly return for Thursday's semifinal in Lyon, but FIFA denied that on Wednesday.

"Samuel Eto'o will not play the semifinal of the Confederations Cup," FIFA said in a statement. "He has been put at the service of his club."

FIFA, which had dubbed the Confederations Cup a mini-World Cup, is angry with the Spanish federation because of its long season.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has accused the Spanish League of displaying "a lack of respect."

"The intentional calendar states that June 15 to July 15 are dates reserved for national teams," Blatter said last week. "Only one league in Europe keeps playing in this time period -- Spain. It's a lack of discipline and a lack of respect."

Blatter said FIFA's executive committee would discuss the issue in Paris on Saturday.

 

Related information

Stories

Confederations Cup 2003 Index

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video