Brazilain thug Marcelo has broken his silence on why he threatened to smash Scottish star Jason Cummings’ ribs in a tunnel tirade.
The former Hibs, Rangers and Dundee striker is now a World Cup star with Australia and a key player in the A-League with Central Coast Mariners. During a match last month, Marcelo - the ex-Lyon star, who now plays for Sydney Wanderers - was filmed in a weekly behind-the-scenes documentary series talking to Cummings, who had been sidelined with a rib injury and who needed an injection to play
In the tunnel at half-time, 35-year-old Marcelo asked how his injury was...before telling Cummings: “I’ll be waiting for you on the pitch. I’m going to smash you in the ribs.” It turned out Cummings got the last laugh by scoring, but Marcelo has no regrets about his treatment of Cummings. He said: "I didn’t mean to be unfair against him. He was injured, but in that game, I was injured as well, I had a problem with my groin, so I wasn’t really 100 per cent. Honestly, in the last 20 years of football, I never played 100 per cent without pain. That’s normal.
"Don’t use it as an excuse - if you are there, you are open to everything. I don’t care if he’s injured, if he is on the field, that means he’s fit enough to play. The information about his injury came to us...I don’t know from where, I don’t know how, but I need to use that to help us. That’s football.
"I grew up in the favelas in Brazil, in Sao Vicente. You need to survive, man. I come from a place where I was told that if I didn't help my team win the game, my mother would not have food on the table.
"You need to learn how to protect yourself. One per cent of all the footballers in Brazil become professional - it’s big competition there. If you’re not doing something different, you’ll never get there. You need to fight for your place. Of course, my life has changed, it’s not like before, but this mentality is still inside me. I’m a warrior.”
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