This Wednesday, AC Milan will challenge Tottenham away in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 elimination match. Due to his two-footed slide tackle that caused serious injury to Tottenham defender Kolcuka in the first leg, Milan midfielder Flamini has been constantly criticized by the British media, especially by Tottenham manager Redknapp. In response, Flamini denied again that he is a dirty player.
Even though Flamini had boasted before the first leg match that he would eliminate Tottenham for Arsenal, the Milan man insisted that he has never been a sloppy player: "In my four years in the Premier League, I have never injured an opponent. I have never been red-carded in England, never. I am a defensive midfielder, and naturally I need to do the toughest blocking job, but this is the first time I've injured an opponent. I am not a dirty player, I never intended to do so."
Regarding Redknapp's comments, Flamini said: "I know what people are saying. I respect Mr. Redknapp very much, but I think he cleverly fabricated a story beyond that, making everyone focus on it and forget about the second leg match. Tottenham only has a one-goal lead advantage, and the game in London will be very difficult. To be honest, I am very confident, especially after our performance in the first half of the first leg. I believe we can reverse and advance there."
"All I did was aimed at the ball, not the person. At that moment, I didn't plan to use both feet to slide tackle. I shouldn't have done it, but it wasn't intentional. I understand people's complaints, but I think it's part of the game. I apologize for what I did. Unfortunately, he got injured, but I went to their dressing room to apologize to him, and he accepted it. I'm not saying what I did was right, but don't make things more complicated. I have never hurt anyone before. It really hurts to hear people say I intentionally hurt him, but it's not true at all."