Eto´o should avoid ban: Benitez

Inter Milan boss Rafael Benitez believes Samuel Eto’o does not deserve to be punished after headbutting Chievo’s Bostjan Cesar on Sunday.

Reacting to contact from Cesar, Eto’o thrust his forehead into the Slovenia international’s chest in an incident reminiscent of Zinedine Zidane’s infamous headbutt on Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final.

Surprisingly, referee Gianluca Rocchi took no action against the Cameroon forward and as a result Benitez considers the matter over.

“You can see he got punched and was provoked,” Benitez said. “He reacted this way and lost control.”

“It’s a shame, but there are four officials on the field and if they didn’t consider it to be an incident worth acting on, then clearly that’s their opinion.”

The threat of disciplinary action hanging over key man Eto’o is another headache for Benitez after he saw his side go down 2-1 at the Stadio Marc’Antonio.

The defending champions are now nine points off the pace in Serie A, with speculation mounting that Benitez will soon be relieved of his duties.

“Clearly after a defeat nobody is happy, but the players worked hard and had a strong reaction in the second half, showing what they had to in terms of character,” Benitez said.

“Unfortunately we wasted a couple of chances to score, but in terms of effort and attitude, the team took the right approach. The reaction was positive right to the end on a terrible pitch. If we had scored earlier, the game would’ve changed completely.”

“Clearly a side like ours has to win a game of this nature, but the lads did work hard.”

“I am a professional coach and have already lived through situations like this. The only way to change the tide is to work and today I saw the players look for the victory.”

“We are going through a difficult situation with a side that has won a great deal, but we are also missing many crucial players and are forced to field lots of teenagers.”

Javier Zanetti also blamed the team’s poor form on their injury crisis, but the Inter captain is confident they will soon bounce back.

“Our squad is very strong and we have character, so we will emerge from this difficult time with our heads held high,” Zanetti said.

“Unfortunately the injuries mean we never get to play the same line-up twice, but we are not looking for excuses.”