La Liga - Ronaldo 'angered' by divers
Eurosport - Tue, 26 Jan 12:42:00 2010
Cristiano Ronaldo has blasted rival players who dive in order to con referees, claiming it makes him "really angry".
The Real Madrid forward was sent off for the second time this season on Sunday for catching Malaga full-back Patrick Mtiliga in the face with his elbow. He has since been suspended for two matches.
However, Ronaldo insisted that it was his efforts to stay on his feet that led to him inadvertently fracturing Mtiliga's nose, sidelining the defender for three weeks.
Ronaldo gained a reputation for going to ground easily during his early years at Manchester United. The former FIFA world player of the year believes the Premier League toughened him up during his six-year spell in England, but he is now suffering for it by not hitting the deck as easily as some of his counterparts in La Liga.
Ronaldo said: "It was a shameful decision to send me off for that because all I was doing was trying was to hold the player off and it's because I was educated not to dive and cheat in England.
"I was just a kid when I arrived at United and in the Premier League I was taught that trying to con the referee and play-acting are not acceptable.
"Now I get really angry when I see other players cheating."
The Portugal international, who joined Real for a world record £80 million fee last summer, also claimed he would not have hit Mtiliga had the defender been taller.
"It's not my fault," he added. "He's a little guy, about 5ft 7in, and that meant I caught his nose by accident.
"It makes me furious that the ref sent me off for that - even if TV showed his nose bleeding a little bit."
Real are likely to appeal against Ronaldo's two-game suspension but if that is rejected the Portuguese forward will miss Saturday's trip to Deportivo Coruna and the home game against Espanyol the following weekend.
I haven't been watching him play with Real Madrid, but he used to be better at diving than the entire Italian national team during his time with Manchester United. Now he wants to say that someone dove after he breaks the guy's nose? lol