Eto'o scathes 'shameless' Mourinho

Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o has branded Jose Mourinho “shameless” and claimed if Chelsea won the Champions League it would “make you want to retire”.

The Cameroon international, who also accused a Stamford Bridge steward of racially abusing him, has taken exception to Mourinho’s negative tactics and the refereeing of Pierluigi Collina during the last-16 second-leg clash.

The Premiership leaders won a thrilling tie 5-4 on aggregate to progress to the quarter-finals, but Eto’o insists it will be a travesty if Mourinho were to retain the trophy he won with Porto last season.

Eto’o, who turns 24 tomorrow, believes any success Mourinho has is tarnished by the amount of money invested in Chelsea’s squad.

“We were the only team that wanted to play football. Chelsea going through is a disaster for football,” he told the Barcelona-based newspaper El Mundo Deportivo.

“And if this team wins the Champions League, it would make you want to retire. With so much money and so many players, what they do is not football.

“Mourinho is shameless. At the end they followed his game, did what he wanted, although this time I suppose he will have appeared in the press conference,” he said, referring to the Portuguese coach’s non-appearance at the media gathering following the first leg at the Nou Camp.

Eto’o also believes his side were denied victory by Italian official Collina.

The former Real Mallorca striker feels Collina, regarded by many as the finest referee in the world, should have disallowed John Terry’s winning goal because of a foul on goalkeeper Victor Valdes by Ricardo Carvalho.

“Collina helped Chelsea. He denied me a clear penalty and in the fourth goal they fouled Victor Valdes, but those things happen,” he said.

Barcelona captain Carles Puyol and Brazil playmaker Ronaldinho were also bitterly upset Terry’s goal was allowed to stand.

Ronaldinho, who scored both of Barca’s goals in the second leg, said: “When the linesman doesn’t run directly to the halfway line (after a goal has been scored), it’s because something has happened. I saw the tug on Victor Valdes, we all saw it and the linesman did too.”

Puyol added: “I saw the assistant stop after the fourth goal, and after we went to speak to him, that is when he ran to the halfway line.”

Ronaldinho also claimed there was a confrontation in the tunnel after the final whistle.

“I am very unhappy with the defeat and afterwards there was a confrontation in the tunnel because there were a lot of stewards and they would not let us leave,” Ronaldinho told the AS newspaper.

“We failed in some areas but we did not deserve to lose how we did and be knocked out of Europe.”