Mario Basler took his revenge on Germany's fallen coach Erich Ribbeck Friday by declaring him a loser who was solely responsible for the triple world champions' dismal Euro 2000 campaign.
"Ribbeck alone is the one responsible for the whole mess, he's a failure," Basler was quoted in the newspaper Bild.
Basler was one of the first players to fall by the wayside after Ribbeck took charge in September 1998, something the 31-year-old Kaiserslautern winger has not forgotten.
"He just didn't have the best 22 players in Belgium and Holland.(Andreas) Moller was missing for example," Basler said.
"And when you have a player like Thomas Hassler you simply have to let him play. But Ribbeck never had any character to start with."
Hassler played just one game at Euro 2000, having won a recall for the tournament after two years away from the national team.
Basler, a temperental and often lazy player, has a history of ill discipline behind him and was thrown out of Bayern Munich last year for brawling in a pizza restaurant late at night when he was meant to be taking care of himself at a physical rehabilitation clinic after injury.
He remains keen though to play for his country again - but under certain conditions.
"I am not going to sit on the bench. If Rudi Voller calls then I will be asking him first if he is really counting on me" – (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
