Hatem Ben Arfa was so angry at being substituted in France's 2-0 defeat by Sweden in their final Euro 2012 Group D match that he told coach Laurent Blanc he could send him home if he wished, L'Equipe said yesterday.
The daily added that the 25-year-old angered Blanc by talking on the phone when the team returned to the changing rooms after the match for a debriefing. “Hatem you don’t need to be ringing your family in here!” Blanc reportedly told the player.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ben Arfa replied that he should not have been taken off as there were several other players “who were worse” than him. That prompted an angry intervention by Samir Nasri, the newspaper said, adding that Ben Arfa ended with him telling Blanc that he could send him home if he wanted to.u00a0