Ex-Liverpool and Man City star was ‘sacked for missing game to play poker’
Manchester City and Liverpool will be going all-in this weekend – much like their former player Albert Riera when he was meant to be playing.
Riera spent the second half of the 2005/06 season on loan at City before going on to join the Reds two years later in an £8million move from Espnayol. It didn't work out for the Spaniard at either club – but neither were as bad as his short-lived spell at Udinese.
After signing for the Serie A side in the summer of 2014, he never even made his debut. That's because he went AWOL to play a poker tournament in Slovenia instead of featuring in their 1-1 draw against Chievo in November, according to The Mirror.
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Soon after the Italians cut him loose, Riera denied it was anything to do with poker, saying on social media: "To clarify, the termination of the contract has been by mutual agreement for a long time and not for non-sporting reasons."
But he hadn't helped his cause by previously posting a picture playing cards with his team-mates in-between training sessions. It wasn't all bad for him though, as he reportedly won £3,000 for a second-place finish.
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He'd also publicly slammed Udinese as “the worst club I’ve ever played for”, but they weren't the only ones who had issues with him. He fell out with Rafa Benitez at Anfield, had a fight with team-mate Felipe Melo at Galatasaray and was banned for confronting officials while with Watford.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo last year, Riera, 41, explained how he'd since said sorry to Benitez for his behaviour having crossed over to the other side to begin his own managerial career – currently taking charge of Ligue 2 side Bordeaux.
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“Now that I am a coach, I see it differently,” he admitted. “Many times I have apologised to him (Benitez), to many coaches that I had during my career.
“As a player, you just see yourself, you see that you want to play, you just see your part. But it’s so difficult to keep 25 players happy, it’s impossible.
"You have to make decisions as a coach, someone will like it and someone won’t like it. It’s like this, as simple as that."
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