Ravel Morrison speaks out on his scrap with Wilfried Zaha and changing room 'awkwardness'

Ravel Morrison has played down his notorious scuffle with Wilfried Zaha, saying it was blown out of proportion. The incident occurred in March 2013 during an England U21 match, where the Young Lions sailed to a 5-0 win against Lithuania. The game grabbed headlines when Morrison and Zaha, who were team-mates at the time, ended up at each other's throats in full view of the TV cameras and astonished fans. During a lull in the game, a seemingly heated exchange triggered Morrison to push Zaha, who very quickly retaliated with a shove of his own before Nathan Redmond stepped in to defuse the situation.

Zaha, now a star for Charlotte in the MLS and the Ivory Coast after switching international allegiances, said their altercation was caused by what he considered Morrison's selfishness on the pitch. Morrison, who is currently with Precision FC in Dubai, has since claimed that the media and Zaha exaggerated the event.

Speaking on the Undr The Cosh podcast, Morrison stated that the incident didn't carry over into the dressing room. He said: "No. He didn't come into the changing room after that, but there was no back and forth or anything after that. There was nothing. The conversation was done.

"It happened on the pitch and it stayed on the pitch. There was nothing in the changing room, there was no awkwardness or anything. You can ask all the U21s that was there. There was nothing in the changing room after. I've never understood it really."

In 2021, Zaha provided his perspective on the incident on the On the Judy podcast, blaming Morrison for his outburst. The former Crystal Palace star said: "He (Morrison) was just getting me mad. He was moving like he was Ronaldinho and the rest of us were just no one.

"He was getting the ball and he was just doing tricks and the only time he passes it is if he really needs to. We're just stood there with our hands on our hips while he's going past six Lithuanian players. And it's just like, 'What are you doing?'

"It was that easy - the team that we had, we had such good players and we can all do that, we can all hog the ball and go past all of them but we're not doing it. We're trying to be professional, play properly, but he was just on his own thing.

"I just had enough. I was like, 'What are you doing?' And out of the blue he just pushed me. I'm like, 'Are you dumb?' So I pushed him back and it was just nonsense on the pitch. Then when you go inside, the man is silent."

Morrison had addressed these comments that Zaha made four years ago, asking to clear the air with the footballer on a public podcast episode together. He added: "I think that thing (the scuffle) was blown out of proportion.

"I think even from his side, he's come out and done something after it again. It was never that deep. Me and Saido Berahino, we were both on two goals. Obviously, you shouldn't really do it, but the game had like 15 minutes left.

"We were talking and saying, 'Who can get the hat-trick?' We were both trying to get a hat-trick, so I think I hit one outside the area and, from there, it just tipped him over the water. Even in that game, there was no, 'Oh, pass me the ball.' It was like that one split-second in the game."