BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) -- Barcelona's Cameroon international Samuel Eto'o sought Wednesday to quell tensions raised by his public criticism of the Spanish club's Dutch manager Frank Rijkaard and his Brazilian teammate Ronaldinho.

An angry Eto'o hit out Tuesday at Rijkaard for saying he had refused to come on as a late substitute during Sunday's 2-0 victory at home to Racing Santander and teammate Ronaldinho for saying he should be more of a team player. "To go into the press room and say that I didn't want to play is dishonest," Eto'o said, before adding: "That's being a really bad person."

He then took aim at Ronaldinho for suggesting after Sunday's match that he should think more about the team.

"If a teammate says that you must think of the team, it's up to him to think of the team. Personally I always think first about the group and then money. That is what hurt me most," he said.

His comments were front page news on Wednesday in Spain's sports press. Two dailies Mundo Deportivo and As ran the headline "Eto'o blows Barcelona up with dynamite," while Marca said "Barcelona explodes."

Spanish media speculated that the rivalry between Eto'o and Ronaldinho could prompt one of the players to leave at the end of the season.

But during a training session on Wednesday there appeared to be no hard feelings between Eto'o and Ronaldinho as the two players were photographed exchanging a hug.

Earlier the three-time African Player of the Year denied calling the Barcelona coach "a bad person" in comments made to Cadena Ser radio.

"It is a lie to say I called Rijkaard a bad person. Those who love controversy want to say that," he told the station's late night radio program El Larguero.

"I didn't explode, I responded to what was being said about me," he added.

Eto'o, top scorer in La Liga in 2005-06, was sidelined for four months this season due to an injured right knee.

He explained that he refused to play Sunday even though he turned out the previous weekend in the 0-0 draw against Osasuna because he did not have time to warm up properly.

"For my knee to be operational I need to warm up for 15 minutes longer than the other players. But this doesn't interest people, the only thing that interests them is controversy," he said.