Dudek plays down incident
20 Feb 2007 - 11:09:51
Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek has hit out at the reporting of the incident which marred the Reds' recent training break in Portugal.
Dudek and some of his team-mates were reportedly involved in a brawl after breaking a curfew on a five-day stay in the Algarve in the build-up to Wednesday's Champions League trip to Barcelona.
Furious Reds boss Rafael Benitez has reportedly handed fines to a number of first team players for breaching club discipline, but although Dudek admits he and some of his colleagues were at fault, he has played down the severity of the incident.
"Most of the press printed strange, unreal stories concerning our going out for supper to the nearest restaurant while we were in Portugal," Dudek told his official website.
"Among others, I have read that I wanted to beat up the policeman, was handcuffed and detained by the police. Nothing of that kind happened.
"I admit that we behaved inappropriately for the situation. We have betrayed our coach's trust, because we returned to the hotel around several dozen minutes after the 'zero hour'.
"The next day we felt stupid. Our coach talked to us and punished those who deserved it the most. I was one of them.
"We have to draw a conclusion from this incident so as to avoid such a situation in future."