Hierro and del Bosque bury the hatchet

Fernando Hierro has made a public attempt to make peace with Vicente del Bosque following an incident during the clash with Al-Ahli in August.

Real suffered a 1-0 defeat at the home of the Egyptian champions but it was Hierro who was largely to blame for the only goal of the game, scored by Al-Ahli's Nigerian frontman Sunday Oliseh.

Del Bosque substituted the central defender six minutes later and replaced him with striker Jose Maria Gutierrez. As he trudged off the field, Hierro was seen mouthing obscenities in the direction of the Madrid bench although the Real skipper claims that he and del Bosque patched up their differences after the game and the incident has not been mentioned by either party since.

Hierro told reporters: "Things are said in the heat of the moment, it happened at a critical time for us but now it has been forgotten. My relationship with del Bosque is fantastic and above all I have total respect for the man."