Jul 8, 2006, 18:36 GMT
Berlin - Argentine midfielder Maxi Rodriguez has told of his regret for his part in the brawl with German players after the team's World Cup quarter-final.
'I lost my temper,' Rodriguez told Argentine daily Ole of the June 30 scuffle after Germany had defeated Argentina on penalty kicks.
'Today in the cold light of day, I regret what happened. But I have to say they provoked us a lot. When (Roberto) Ayala missed his penalty, they celebrated, which we never did, and that made us all angry.'
Rodriguez and unused substitute Leandro Cufre received bans and were fined by FIFA on Saturday.
The Atletico Madrid player was banned for two matches for striking German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger and fined 5,000 (4,085 dollars) Swiss francs, while Cufre received a four-match suspension for kicking defender Per Mertesacker and was also fined 10,000 Swiss francs (8,170).
Cufre and Rodriguez will serve their suspensions at the 2007 Copa Libertadores in Venezuela as Argentina have no competitive matches before then.
'All my memories of the World Cup are very good except the penalties against Germany,' added Rodriguez. 'No-one was better than us, but we had to face the lottery of penalties and we were unlucky.'
German midfielder Torsten Frings was earlier suspended for one game by FIFA for his role in the same June 30 melee.
Frings was banned after Italian television pictures showed the 29- year-old Werder Bremen player striking Argentina's Julio Cruz in the face. He missed Germany's semi-final defeat to Italy as a result.
England's Wayne Rooney was given a two-match ban and fined 5,000 francs for stamping on an opponent during his country's quarter-final loss to Portugal.
The 20-year-old Manchester United striker will miss England's Euro 2008 qualifying matches against Andorra on September 2 and Macedonia on September 6 of this year.
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