Liverpool pair Dietmar Hamann and Markus Babbel are at the centre of a row over late-night drinking that has heaped more scorn on Germany's shamed Euro 2000 squad.

Hamann has been singled out as a chief culprit after being named in both the incidents that reportedly took place during Germany's ill-fated campaign.

He was spotted along with Babbel and fellow-midfielder Jens Jeremies in a Cologne bar after the 1-1 draw with Romania.

According to witnesses, Hamann was there until the early hours of the morning although Babbel later claimed: 'I was there, but I was in bed by midnight.'

Even worse, in the eyes of angry German fans, Hamann followed the 3-0 Portugal defeat by being embroiled in another rowdy session that ended with players staging a 5am sing-song.

As outgoing coach Erich Ribbeck prepared to make way for one of the candidates on a shortlist headed by Bayer Leverkusen's Christophe Daum, he summed up the dramatic decline in Germany's fortunes by saying: 'If the incidents are true, the players involved should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

As revealed in Soccernet, Liverpool defender Rigobert Song is having talks with Marseille about a £3.5million transfer.

This would help fund a £5m bid for Middlesbrough's Germany wing back Christian Ziege although Ziege insisted last night: 'I am going nowhere, my family are happy on Teesside.'

Liverpool's home games in next season's UEFA Cup will be live on BBC1.