Another day, another interesting interview from a Bayern star. Arjen Robben has apparently agreed to forgive and forget on this past season's locker room beat-down at the hands of Franck "Fists of Fury" Ribery.
Quick background, for those we weren't aware: Robben and Ribery, teammates and opposite-side wings for so long, got into it after a match this past April. Supposedly, the reason was a dispute over who would take free kicks. The interesting thing is, Bayern actually won the game in dramatic fashion, so it was sort of a surprise that tempers would boil over in the locker room. But whatever the reason, Robben showed up with a black eye, his contract extension talks were put on hold, and he basically wet his pants with joy at actually having a legitimate excuse to snarl and act rude.
He later signed the extension, and indicated that he was happy with the club. But given his ugly summer and the lack of concrete resolution, it was good to see his Kicker interview from today, where Robben says as follows:
"What happened there was disappointing, a real shame. I got on well with him. We always had a lot of fun together on the pitch and a good relationship off the pitch, and then something like that happens."
Has Robben forgiven his teammate?
"Yes, I will do everything so that we work well together. He apologised immediately. At the beginning it was hard to accept. Now it's good."
So, a qualified forgiveness, but a forgiveness nonetheless. I never feared that any simmering grudge would, in and of itself, be enough to keep Robben off his game. But when combined with his two vital missed penalty kicks late last season (one in the late Dortmund match, one in the CL final - thanks to Henry for the correction), his horrible summer with the Netherlands, two straight seasons in which he's struggled with injuries, and various other trials and tribulations, you could see this possibly being one more thing weighing him down. So, it's good news to hear that there are no lingering bad feelings over the incident.
Note also that Kate L has posted another interesting Robben bit in the Fan Posts section (or you can click right to it here). So check that out if you're interested. Thanks for reading.