Source: Daily_Mail
Spurs star Benoit Assou-Ekotto slams arrogant, greedy playboy footballers
Spurs' Cameroon defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto has slammed football'scelebrity culture and says many of his fellow professionals as greedy,arrogant, two-faced and take themselves too seriously. [LNB]Assou-Ekotto, 26, a £3million buy from Lens four years ago, has ahistory of speaking his mind. And he's in no mood to hold back,insisting he's only in the game for the money.[LNB] Hitting out: Benoit Assou-Ekotto (right) slams playboy footballers[LNB]'The whole problem with football players is that they really take themselves seriously,' he said.[LNB]'We kick a ball around and we earn 100,000, 200,000 or even 300,000 euros a week. We don't improve the world. It's not like we invented hot water. We just kick a ball. [LNB]'But sometimes when these guys go out, you'd think they were rock stars. [LNB]'I could understand that you wear dark glasses at night time when you do open-heart surgery and save lives, but not if you're a footballer.[LNB]'I'm not in the same world as most of the people in football. I really don't like this world.[LNB]'These people didn't feed me, they didn't bring me into the world and my life won't improve by going to a nightclub and drinking loads of champagne. [LNB]'I prefer to support players like Deco, who has used his fame to go back to Brazil to help some charities. I also like players of temperament like Edgar Davids. [LNB]'The year I arrived at Spurs we were at each other's throats on the pitch, loads of insults, because we didn't agree. But afterwards we said 'hello' to each other like men. [LNB]'I prefer people like that to someone who says 'it's no big deal' and then goes and complains to the coach and says there's a problem.'[LNB]Assou-Ekotto has never made any secret of the fact he came to play in England for the money. [LNB]That is why he believes the incredible wages earned by today's stars make it laughable the French team could even think of going on strike during this summer's World Cup finals in South Africa. [LNB]In an interview with French football magazine So Foot, he added: 'I understood from a very early age that it didn't interest me to work in an office for 1,000 euros a month, see the same faces every day and work 45 years to buy a house. That's a rather sad life.' [LNB] He added in the Sun: 'I was gifted at sports and quickly tried to find a cushy number. And today I have a great job. I work a maximum of two hours a day and I do it to make money, like anybody else in the world.'[LNB] Rafael van der Vaart: Why everybody is talking about the Tottenham starHarry Redknapp backs Manchester United to push Chelsea all the way in Premier League title raceAndy Townsend's boot room: Clash of the day - Wolves v Manchester City, plus previews for every Premier League gameTOTTENHAM HOTSPUR FC: All the latest news from across the web[LNB] [LNB] Explore more:People: Deco Places: United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Cameroon
