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Spain might have left the tournament with their dignity intact but left back Jordi Alba didn’t as he accused and confronted a Spanish journalist after their 3-0 win over Australia in their final group game. After the game, Alba confronted a journalist and told him: “I’ll rip your head off.”
The incident happened as the Spanish players were leaving the mixed zone, on their way out of the Arena da Baixada. The unfortunate victim of this verbal assault was reporter Javier Gómez Matallanas, who works for the Spanish sports daily AS. Without stopping Alba said: “Next time I’ll rip your head off.” A stunned Matallanas expressed his surprise to which Alba added: “Yes, yes, next time … I’m warning you.”
Journalists who went along with the Spanish team reported that the confrontation continued until the team boarded their flight back to Spain. According to them, Alba continued his verbal attack, this time calling the journalist a grass.
A confused Matallanas spoke to Onda Cero radio and revealed that he had no idea why Alba was so agitated. Matallanas said: “I have no idea why. I have not written anything about him. I don’t remember writing anything about him at all.”
