Arsenal ace Andrey Arshavin clashed with Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko in the Russia changing room last week, it has been revealed.
The Mirror says the two strikers extended their Spurs-Arsenal rivalry while Arshavin was giving a team talk in the dressing room. Russia lost 1-0 and their dreams of making South Africa next year vanished.
"The only player who protested about Arshavin's talk was Roman Pavlyuchenko," said one source. "He told Andriy strongly to shut up."
Arshavin was named by a leading Russian website yesterday after the Sovetsky Sport newspaper reported another row in the Russian camp – without identifying the players.
"Not many people know about an incident which happened before the games against Slovenia," said the paper's football editor Sergei Yegorov.
He claimed that when three players arrived at a team breakfast "one of them was reprimanded."
He went on: "Rumour is that the leader of the trio replied in his usual insolent manner.
"The scandal was swept under the carpet. Guus Hiddink was not in the restaurant with the team at that moment."
Later livesport.ru said: "Sovetsky Sport did not name the players, but the trio were Alexander Anyukov, Vladimir Bystrov and Andrey Arshavin.
"The leader was Arshavin who, according to unofficial sources, insulted assistant coach Alexander Borodyuk."