Azerbaijan coach Carlos Alberto is likely to face disciplinary action from FIFA following his behaviour during last night's World Cup qualifier against Poland.
The Brazilian World Cup star was sent to the stands late in his side's 3-0
home defeat in Baku after reacting angrily to Poland's third goal, which was
scored by Maciej Zurawski 11 minutes from time.
Carlos Alberto, who felt the goal should have been chalked out for offside,
was incensed by the decision of Spanish referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco to
allow the strike to stand and he had to be physically restrained by his backroom
staff as he argued with the match officials.
Mallenco responded by ordering Carlos Alberto from the dugout but still he
would not go quietly, walking right across the middle of the pitch while
continuing his verbal attack on the referee.
After the match, Carlos Alberto said: 'It is known by everybody who has
knowledge of football that money rules this sport.
'It's a great business, but teams like Azerbaijan don't have any chance.
Because of that I received a red card. The referee was weak, there were many
silly mistakes.'
The former World Cup winner is clearly not one to mix his words and he also
hit the headlines earlier this year for the comments he made about Michael Owen
following a qualifying match with England in March.
Carlos Alberto had mistakenly thought that in the build-up to the match Owen
had predicted that he would score five goals against Azerbaijan.
Owen failed to get on the scoresheet in the 2-0 England win, and Carlos
Alberto said afterwards: 'This man - what's his name, the number 10, the small
one who doesn't play in the Real Madrid first team - said that if Poland beat
Azerbaijan 8-0, England should score at least eight goals and he'd score five of
them.
'But he must respect everyone. Who is Michael Owen anyway? What has he ever
won in football? He plays for Real Madrid but is always on the bench.
'It is not right for him to say that he can score five goals against
Azerbaijan. Where are those five goals tonight?'
