Fran: ‘Real depend on Ronaldo’

January 29, 2010

Real Madrid hopes to sink Deportivo la Coruna to stay in touch with league leaders Barcelona. But they could face a daunting task when they are without Cristiano Ronaldo, according to former Deportivo captain Fran.

Ronaldo received a two-match suspension this week for a red card he picked up at the weekend, during the match against Malaga (2-0). The Portuguese winger was sent off after a stray elbow caught Danish defender Patrick Mtiliga.

Madrid’s initial appeal against the ban was rejected by the Spanish football federation’s appeals committee on Thursday, but the club have now taken their case to Spain’s sporting disciplinary committee (CEDD) in a bid to have the former Manchester United man available for the Depor match.

If they won’t succeed then according to Fran, their hopes of picking up a first win at the Riazor since the 1991/92 season will be all but extinguished.

“It (Ronaldo’s absence) would be key because they depend on him while the others are not at their best,” said club legend Fran, who played over 400 games for Depor between 1988 and 2005.

“Hopefully he will not be here, although Madrid will still give it everything. That’s obvious because if they don’t win, the difference to Barcelona will be very big,” he told AS.

“I think it would be difficult with Cristiano (in Madrid’s team), but if he doesn’t play then the curse will continue; they will go away empty-handed once more. I have faith in Depor.”

Real coach Manuel Pellegrini will travel to La Coruna without Rafael van der Vaart, who’s still troubled by a knee injury he sustained three weeks ago during the match against Mallorca.

Ezequiel Garay, Lassana Diarra, Gonzalo HiguaiÂn, Mahamadou Diarra en Fernando Gago are also not available for different reasons.

The several absences have forced Pellegrini to add four players from the academy to his squad.

Deportivo lie fifth in the Primera Division, ten points adrift of Real Madrid.

Tags: appeals committee, Barcelona, captain Fran, daunting task, different reasons, disciplinary committee, ezequiel garay, fernando gago, football federation, initial appeal, knee injury, la coruna, league leaders, MADRID, mahamadou diarra, Malaga, manchester united, manuel pellegrini, Patrick Mtiliga, Rafael van der, rafael van der vaart, real madrid, riazor, ronaldo, spanish football

Real accepts Ronaldo´s ´unfair´ sending off

January 26, 2010

Real Madrid blasted the “unfair” red card handed out to Cristiano Ronaldo at the weekend, but said it will accept the referee’s decision.

“Seeing the move, he clearly did not want to hurt the opponent,” Emilio Butragueno, the club’s vice president and former player was quoted as saying Tuesday in sports newspaper Marca.

“I was a striker and when you are challenged you want to free yourself.”

The world’s most expensive player spoiled a stellar two-goal display on Sunday by getting red-carded after a stray elbow caught defender Patrick Mtiliga, who tugged the Portuguese winger’s shirt during the 2-0 win over Malaga.

The Primera Liga’s disciplinary committee is expected to announce later Tuesday whether he will be suspended for one or two matches.

Real’s sporting director, Jorge Valdano, described the decision as “unfair and “very hard” as Ronaldo was merely “trying to continue” the move.

“We regret very much the injury to the Malaga player, we accept any decision, but we defend the conviction that we are right,” he told Spanish radio COPE Tuesday.

It was a second dismissal of the season for Ronaldo who was sent off in a 4-2 win over Almeria on December 5 for kicking out at an opponent.

The former Manchester United star said Monday he also felt his red card was unjust.

“I’ve spoken to Mtiliga and he said he doesn’t believe I should apologise because he doesn’t think I hurt him intentionally,” he was quoted as saying on the club’s website.

“I never try to trick referees. I never intended to injure the player. I believe they should be fair with what really happened.”

MADRID (AFP)

Tags: almeria, conviction, disciplinary committee, elbow, Emilio Butragueno, Jorge Valdano, MADRID, Malaga, Manchester, manchester united, opponent, Patrick Mtiliga, portuguese, primera liga, real madrid, referee, referees, ronaldo, spanish radio, sports, striker, vice president, winger

Doctor Cristiano and Mister Ronaldo

January 26, 2010

The best and the worst of Cristiano Ronaldo were again on display in Sunday’s 2-0 La Liga win over Malaga, and his sending off for violent conduct has prompted fierce debate over what some in Spain are calling his “ Jekyll and Hyde” character.

The Portuguese forward netted a superb first-half double to put Real Madrid in command at the Bernabeu but his night turned from glory to shame when he was dismissed for lashing out at Patrick Mtiliga and breaking the defender’s nose.

It was his second red card of the season after his sending-off against Almeria in December for kicking out at an opponent and he appeared lucky to stay on the pitch in this month’s defeat at Athletic Bilbao for a similar incident.

“Cristiano Ronaldo, hero and villain” (El Pais), “Cristiano Ronaldo, again angel and demon” (La Razon) and “Doctor Cristiano and Mister Ronaldo” (Marca), were some of the headlines in Monday’s Spanish press.

Marca columnist Roberto Palomar said Ronaldo’s behaviour had been his “umpteenth act of idiocy this season” and slammed him for letting the team down with Gonzalo Higuain injured and Ruud van Nistelrooy sold to Hamburg SV at the weekend.

“Anyone who gets sent off against Almeria and Malaga with the match already won is a fool,” Palomar wrote.

“Someone needs to sit down with the lad and explain what’s what because you can’t go through life behaving like that.”

Ronaldo apologised to Mtiliga and said he never tried to hurt another player. But that being the case, why did he feel the need for a second backward swing of the arm when he had already shaken free of the Dane’s challenge?

“People who understand football know that my intention is always to try and play. The red card is a disgrace I don’t understand it,” he told reporters.

“I know you saw blood on the TV screens but I was just trying to break free. I never try to hurt anyone.”

There are many great players who, on occasion, have seemed to succumb to an inner demon – Zinedine Zidane, Diego Maradona, Eric Cantona and Hristo Stoichkov to name only a few.

El Mundo columnist Orfeo Suarez noted on Monday that it’s rare to find a good forward without a touch of devilry inside but how far should we accept acts of folly as being unavoidable characteristics of football genius, the angel and the demon?

As Palomar wrote in Marca, Ronaldo is not fouled any more regularly than players like Messi or Atletico Madrid forward Sergio Aguero and there are many players around who have the same hunger for success.

Ronaldo will be suspended at the least for Saturday’s difficult trip to Deportivo Coruna and his latest lapse puts his goal of winning the FIFA World Player Award back from Messi in jeopardy.

Time to see more of the Jekyll and less of the Hyde.

PHOTO: Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo reacts to his sending-off against Malaga in La Liga, Sunday Jan. 24. REUTERS/Sergio Perez

Source

Tags: almeria, apologised, athletic bilbao, bernabeu, Bilbao, columnist, cristiano ronaldo, Dane, diego maradona, disgrace, Doctor Cristiano, eric cantona, hamburg sv, jekyll and hyde, la razon, lad, MADRID, Malaga, marca, messi, palomar, Patrick Mtiliga, real madrid, Roberto Palomar, ronaldo, ruud van nistelrooy, Sergio, sergio perez, Spain, spanish press, tv screens, violent conduct, Zinedine

Angry Ronaldo: ‘This is not a red card here or in anywhere in the world’

January 25, 2010

On Sunday, Cristiano Ronaldo guided Real Madrid to a victory over Malaga. But the Portuguese star won’t look back in joy.

Ronaldo was shown a straight red card in the 70th minute of the match after his swinging elbow caught Malaga defender Patrick Mtiliga in the face.

The former Manchester United winger has insisted that he did not mean to hurt his opponent and Real Madrid will appeal against the booking.

“It was not my intention to injure Mtiliga,” Ronaldo said after the match. “I’m very sad for what happened but calm.

“This is not a red card here or in anywhere in the world.”

The Portugal international said that it wasn’t an intentional elbow. “I didn’t mean to injure the lad.

“It was bad luck to hit him on the nose because he’s only 1.70m and if he had been taller I would have struck his chest.”

The challenge left the Danish defender with a broken nose which will sideline him for a couple of weeks. After the match, Ronaldo visited Malaga’s locker room to apologise to Mtiliga.

“I’ve spoken with Mtiliga and he told me that I didn’t need to apologise because he doesn’t believe I hurt him intentionally and he’s right about that,” Ronaldo added.

“Those who understand football know that my intention is always to play the ball.

“I wouldn’t want to injure anybody. I’m not that type of person. I’m not a bad person. I only want to shine by playing football.

“Now I’m going to be angry when I get home because I won’t be able to play through suspension.”

Ronaldo, as a minimum, will now sit at next week’s trip to fifth-placed Deportivo La Coruna and might be banned for a longer period.