Owen responds to lost in translation attack

MICHAEL OWEN yesterday responded to Carlos Alberto's astonishing attack on him by insisting he had never predicted a five-goal haul against Azerbaijan.

The Brazilian legend, who led his country to World Cup success in 1970, turned on Owen in a bizarre 10-minute post-match rant after his Azerbaijan side had lost 2-0 to England at St James' Park last night.

Owen, who carefully avoided making a pre-match vow to match Malcolm Macdonald's mark of five goals in an England game, missed several chances and was ruled out of the next qualifier in Wales with a booking.

However, Carlos Alberto, clearly misguided by pre-match reports into believing Owen had predicted a five-goal salvo, asked: "Who is this midget anyway, what has he ever won?" He went on to say that Owen "should wash his tongue" and that he should "clean David Beckham's boots".

Owen reacted to the withering personal criticism yesterday with a statement.

He said: "If he (Carlos Alberto) checks my pre-match quotes he will realise that I never said anything about scoring five goals - I would never be so disrespectful.

"He would, though, be perfectly within his rights to criticise my performance - I've certainly had better games in an England shirt.

"Fortunately, I am a mentally strong person and believe I will learn from the experience and continue to improve as a player and person because of it."

In his post-match press conference rant Carlos Alberto said of Owen: "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 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 he 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?

"He didn't score one. Sven-Goran Eriksson is a good man, he should teach him to respect everyone. Who is he anyway? Who is he?

"I have a history in football but what is the history of this guy, this midget?"

Owen had done little to earn Carlos Alberto's wrath in the build-up to the game, having pointedly failed to respond to questions about Macdonald's record, dating back to 1975 against Cyprus.

"I wasn't aware that five was the record and that's a fantastic feat. I've scored four goals a couple of times before, but I don't remember ever scoring five in a game," he said on Monday. "But 8-0 against Poland has certainly got everyone thinking there could be a few goals about.

"Many years ago, there were plenty of cricket scores in international football and these chances are few and far between, but winning the game is the most important thing."

Something was, however, then lost in translation, prompting Carlos Alberto to conclude: "He is not a man. I would say this to his face if he was here.

"I just hope he is back on the bench when Real Madrid play this weekend."