JASON MCATEER and former Liverpool teammate Michael Owen were involved in a major bust-up during a six-a-side legends match between Ireland and England.
The incident occurred at the Star Sixes tournament broadcast on Sky Sports last Sunday January 6th during a full-blooded encounter between the two rival nations.
With Owen turning out for England and McAteer representing Ireland, any club allegiances were put aside as the pair came to blows.
The incident came with just two minutes left in the game and the scores deadlocked at 0-0.
McAteer, eager to win the ball back in his own team’s half, put in a hard tackle on Owen that soon became something more.
Evidently keen to send a message to the former England favourite, McAteer grabbed onto Owen long after the ball had gone.
But the former Real Madrid man wasn’t about to let that slide and quickly returned the favour, lashing out with a kick across the midfielder’s ankles.
The two soon came together with tensions threatening to boil over.
Even the intervention of the referee did little to calm things down, with McAteer returning the favour with a swift boot to Owen’s side.
ICYMI: The story of Michael Owen and Jason McAteer’s heated clash at the Star Sixes tournament 🙈😡 pic.twitter.com/3kAxS9BSuh
— Soccer AM (@SoccerAM) January 7, 2019
Yet arguably the most controversial moment of all came when the match referee decided to send off McAteer but only handed a yellow card to Owen.
England went on to win with Paul Konchesky bagging the only goal having played out the game with a man extra.
Speaking afterwards, McAteer was still livid over the incident and the referee’s decision.
“Michael Owen decided to lash out, and I didn't think I wanted to let him get away with it,” he told Sky Sports.
"The referee obviously didn't see it, or he didn't want to see it because it was England and Michael Owen."
"How is that not a red card? I'll tell you why it's not a red card, because it's Michael Owen and it's England."
