Coloccini admits he considered quitting Newcastle

Feb 6, 2013 10:20:00 AM

The 31-year-old skipper claims he nearly tried to force through a move back to Argentina in January but says he is now determined to keep the Magpies in the top flight

Newcastle defender Fabricio Coloccini has admitted he considered quitting the club as he sought a move back to Argentina in January.

The 31-year-old club captain looked as if he was heading for the exit door and a return to former club San Lorenzo after revealing that he was homesick and wanted to leave the club for personal reasons.


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However, the club managed to convince Coloccini to stay at least until the end of the season and he has since praised the Magpies for the way they handled the situation with the Toon skipper now fully focused on helping the club move away from the relegation zone.

"I thought about walking out, but I changed my mind," he told reporters.

"It wasn't about the money. There were personal reasons but the club and manager have been great.

"I've been away from home for 13 years and I miss it. Now is about Newcastle United staying up... and we will.

"I love Newcastle United as a whole. I captain a huge club and I'm fully focused on helping to stay up."

Alan Pardew's side currently sit in 15th place in the league table, six points above the drop zone after clinching back-to-back wins over Chelsea and Aston Villa in the last week.

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German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will battle it out at Wembley for European glory. Get involved by sending us your thoughts via Twitter or Facebook! Hosted by Mark Doyle.

10:39 PM BST

Even better stuff from Manuel Neuer, who arguably kept his side in the game during the opening 25 minutes, who admitted to Sky Sport Germany:

"I have to admit: after it went 1-1, I was scared as s**t! You remember how it went last year. The feeling when we scored was undescribable."

10:22 PM BST

Terrific stuff from Bayern attacking midfielder Thomas Muller, the kind of socks-around-the-ankles player that I think any true football fan inherently adores.

"It is hard to describe," he told ZDF. "I am completely done, I have cramps left and right. But I did not go off the pitch and it paid off. Physically I am over the limit now.

"When you are 68 years old and you have a record season and then you win the Champions League and have the chance for the triple, you can be happy you are 68 and not 25. Because then you can retire."

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An word from Goal Germany correspondent Tim Rohn on a night of redemption for Bayern Munich:

"One year after that bitter loss to Chelsea the Bayern are now the ones dancing on the pitch. BVB gets a farewell with much applause and a scraf parade. No matter that Bayern won: For every german football fan in London this will be a very long night."

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"We are proud," Weidenfeller told ZDF. "We stood up to Bayern and we've had a great season in the Champions League. We gave everything and did our best to win that trophy. But we will come back again."

Sebastian Kehl added: "We played a fantastic match and gave a great account of ourselves. We can be proud. And of course we will attack again next season."

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Some early reaction from the man of the moment, Arjen Robben, who's unsurprisingly overcome with emotion.

"I heard so many people saying in the last weeks saying they would grant me this. They told me: 'You'll score the goal.' It’s not quite sunk in yet. There’s a lot of emotion.

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You'll never hear or read a more simplistic description of the Dutchman's Champions League winner!

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