AFP

Ronaldo says he is not Real Madrid's 'saviour'

Thu, 29 Oct 17:54:32 2009

MADRID (AFP) - Real Madrid's Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been sidelined with an ankle sprain for most of the past month, said Thursday he is not the Spanish club's "saviour".

"We're not going through a great moment but I'm also not the saviour of the nation," the 24-year-old told reporters when asked about the string of losses which the club have suffered in his absence.

Real have suffered three losses without the 94-million-euro signing, including a 4-0 Spanish Cup rout away to third-division club Alcorcon on Tuesday which have led to calls for the resignation of coach Manuel Pellegrini.

"We lost, nobody's happy, nobody expected it, the team did not play well, but we have to raise our heads. The world is not going to end because of that," Ronaldo added.

Ronaldo has been injured ever since Real's 3-0 Champions League win over Marseille at the end of September when he was tackled by the French side's Senegalese defender Souleymane Diawara.

At the time the club said the player would likely be out for between three and four weeks but Ronaldo aggravated the injury during Portugal's 3-0 victory over Hungary on October 10 when he limped off the pitch after just 27 minutes.

Real said Wednesday that Ronaldo would have to undergo further medical tests in a week before the can return to the pitch, meaning he will miss the club's Champions League match at AC Milan on Tuesday as well as its Spanish league match against Getafe on Saturday.

"I'm a little anxious to get back to playing because that's what I like most, playing and helping the team," he said.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who spent 250 million euros on new signings like Ronaldo in the pre-season, appealed for calm on Wednesday in the wake of the club's shock loss to Alcorcon.

"There has to be calm and patience, even though the defeat in Alcorcon was humiliating. The history of Real Madrid is more than one game, which shouldn't be exaggerated or create unrest," he said.

"We've only had two months of competition. The coach is new, he has a different system to last year and there are many new players. You have to give the team time to fit together and I'm sure the results will arrive."

Real midfielder Esteban Granero said the squad was fully behind Pellegrini, who joined the club in June from Spanish side Villarreal.

"We back the coach until the death. We have confidence in his ideas and we do not hold him responsible for the Cup loss. We are going to give it out all against Getafe, we are Real and we have our prestige to defend," he said.

 

Comment 1 - 8 of 8

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  1. jay jay .. CR7 is a great player. Guys,how can u be­ such sentimental to some one who won world player of­ the year award? someone who helped Man utd win­ trophies?someone who scored against chelsea in d­ champions league? guys wake up.FROM Nigeria.07066045202

    From Oloto, on Fri 30 Oct 11:04PM
  2. @ lamecks2002uk #6, shut your mouth looser. I don't­ give a shittttttttttttt if portugal beat england,­ I'm Catalan. And for your information, yes ronaldo­ did help portugal beat england, we all saw what kind of­ player and friend he was, pleading to the ref to give­ his man u team mate and friend rooney a red card.­ Ronaldo is a whiner and a diver. And yes he did play­ well for man u, against weak teams. We all saw how­ horrible he was against big teams. He was nowhere to be­ seen in the match against Barcelona. And for your­ information, he suxks with portugal even more. Look at­ how many goals he has scored for portugal.

    From Money Does Not Buy Success, on Fri 30 Oct 9:58PM
  3. I have a problem with people like 'money­ doesn't buy success' because you sound like­ yoou hate Ronaldo but I doubt whether you know how to­ play football yourself. CR is a much better player than­ most players in the Premiership. The reason why people­ hate him is because he helped Portugal beat England in­ two tornaments, Euro 2004 and the World Cup 2006. He­ played exceptionally well for ManUtd and they made a­ lot of money from him. Check how many goals they have­ scored this season.

    From lamecks2002uk, on Fri 30 Oct 4:50PM
  4. You are a @#$% ronaldo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! who said that­ you are a savior???????????? All you do is score some­ lucky goals against weak teams. You can never perform­ against big teams. We all saw you against Barcelona,­ all three matches. You could not even score a penalty­ against Barcelona. This shows how selfish ronaldo is,­ that he comes up with terms for himself,­ "savior". Who even said that you were a­ savior. I would love to see you play against Barcelona,­ and we will see what kind of savior you are. You are­ probably going to dive everytime a Barca player just­ looks at you, imagine if they come and get the ball­ from you, you will probably act like you are paralised.

    From Money Does Not Buy Success, on Fri 30 Oct 4:32PM
  5. Commentator No 2: What a Shame! Nonsense and Useless­ Soul!

    From Garba S, on Fri 30 Oct 12:15PM
  6. true, who told you you're a saviour little cry­ baby??

    From Emran, on Fri 30 Oct 1:14AM
  7. Long live Souleymane Diawara!!!

    From BiggR, on Thu 29 Oct 9:09PM
  8. who told you , you are??

    From hasan a, on Thu 29 Oct 7:08PM
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