Zahovic Bust-Up
Hey guys I thought you would be interested in this article. It is from Onefootball.com and it looks like Zahovic got in some trouble with Pinto and the coach at some practice. Here's the article:
Benfica split by Zahovic bust-up
Thursday 21st February 2002
Zlatko Zahovic's future at Benfica is in doubt following a furious training-ground bust-up between the Slovenian midfielder, coach Jesualdo Ferreira, and defender Joao Manuel Pinto. "Something big happened and the behaviour of those concerned was totally unacceptable," said Zahovic.
The Slovenian went on to confirm that there was an incident in training on Tuesday afternoon – but insisted that it was events on the previous Sunday which were key to the dispute.
As part of his rehabilitation following a long-term thigh injury, Zahovic has been starting league games for Benfica but not completing them. The Slovenian seemed upset when he was taken off after one hour of the derby defeat against his former club Porto a fortnight ago – but it was his substitution on the hour-mark against Belenenses last Sunday that caused the uproar.
Slovenian sports daily Ekipa reported on Thursday that Zahovic's team-mates were unhappy at the player's unwillingness to help in defence and alleged that Pinto "ran past the bench during the game and wanted the coach to replace Zlatko Zahovic".
Whether it was down to Pinto or not, Ferreira did take the Slovenian off, but there were no remonstrations from Zahovic until, according to the paper, he found out about his colleague's actions.
Ekipa wrote: "Zahovic didn't react because he knew nothing about it. But after the game, the players on the bench who heard Pinto told him all about it. Pinto and the coach were away at the time – but Zahovic exploded in training on Tuesday, when everybody met.
"He said lots of things to Pinto and some even harsher words to Ferreira. Being substituted by a team-mate is something that a player like Zahovic simply can't and mustn't afford. And what's even more unusual is that the coach obeyed what a team-mate of Zahovic told him to do."
The version of events as reported by the Slovenian paper has not been corroborated in Portugal, though Zahovic himself accepted that there was a flare-up.
"I can't deny that something happened. The club directors will not let players talk to the press without special approval so I will give no comment as I don't want to break club rules. So for the time being, I won't say anything concrete. But the whole thing will probably come out eventually, as I can't see any way for us to keep it from the public.
"Personally," he continued, "I have no interest in hiding the truth. I'll be silent for some time just so they won't say I've violated the club rules. By all means I can say that something really happened. And something big happened.
"But it's not true that it happened in Tuesday's practice session. That was simply a logical consequence – the important thing happened on Sunday. Some people are now trying to tell me they're sorry, but the whole thing, the behaviour of those concerned seems totally unacceptable to me, and therefore inexcusable.
"They're ashamed now and that's good. There's no way it would be in their interest for the story to get out to the public."
Ekipa goes on to mention that Zahovic and Pinto went eyeball-to-eyeball in their row before they were separated by team-mates.
Pinto signed for the club last summer from Belenenses, while Ferreira replaced Toni as Benfica last December
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