|
HIDDINK I regret my leg break tackle
By Paul Smith
| |
|
|
Photograph: Eddie Keogh / Reuters
|
Guus Hiddink has explained why he sympathises with the
emotional reaction seen by Chelsea players after their Champions League
exit.
The Blues boss revealed that during his playing days with NEC he broke
an opponent's leg.
Hiddink said: "I was being man marked. I felt nails in my back and
I was being kicked so I got very frustrated.
"I made a vicious tackle. I hit the man and he had a serious injury.
I went to visit him in hospital with a box of chocolates."
During a media briefing at Chelsea's training ground Hiddink declined
to name the opponent but in his autobiography, This Is My World, published
two years ago, he did elaborate.
Hiddink revealed he broke Robbie Bol's leg in a game against Fortuna Vlaardingen.
He explained: "Robbie was irritating me so much and he was such a
pest on the pitch that I deliberately went for a flying tackle with my
leg right upin the air. I can still hear the sound of the breaking of
the bones in his leg.
"It was awful, it really was. I have never regretted something as
a player as much." Headded: "I can understand the temper in
players."
Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and Chelsea will discover this week if
UEFA are to take disciplinary sanctions against them. A nine-man committee
will be linked on a conference call to debate the issue.
And there is a growing belief inside Stamford Bridge that Carlo Ancelotti
will benamed as Hiddink's managerial successor - but AC Milan are determined
to hang on to their man.
They had sounded out Leonardo, their club's technical director, as a potential
replacement but the Brazilian has told them he is not ready to take on
such a demanding role.
Meanwhile, Joe Cole expects to return to full training by early July after
his cruciate knee ligament injury.
Cole said: "The rehabilitation is going very well and fingers crossed
I expect to be well on course to return to training in the time frame
medical experts expected."
Mirror.co.uk,
10/05/2009
|
|
