The five players sent home from the Chile squad for an alleged breach of discipline have strenuously denied coach Claudio Borghi's claims against them.

PA PhotosJorge Valdivia, Jean Beausejour and Gonzalo Jara were three of the five players involved

• Chile stars sent home in disgrace

West Brom defender Gonzalo Jara, Birmingham winger Jean Beausejour, Atalanta defender Carlos Carmona, Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal and Palmeiras' Jorge Valdivia were axed by Borghi after he said they broke a squad curfew and turned up "in a state not adequate for the Chilean national team, for a professional player".

Borghi added: "It's hurtful, not just for me, but for the whole coaching staff. If you ask me what they drank, I have no idea. I can't sanction the players. But I can leave them out of the national side.''

But the quintet in question have responded furiously to Borghi's comments, insisting his claim that they were "not in an adequate state" was untrue.

Beausejour, reading from a statement by the five players, said: "We're not denying we took alcohol, because we were at a religious ceremony [the baptism of one of Valdivia's children] common in our country.

"But Mr Borghi's assertion that we arrived in an inexcusable and inadequate state is not right."