20/02/2005
RONALDO: YOU'RE IN FOR REAL KICKING

Ronaldo last night warned Rangers that Villarreal will use every dirty trick in the book to come out on top in their Champions League clash.

The Real Madrid striker faced the Ibrox club's Euro opponents last month in a league clash and was battered and bruised during a brutal 0-0 draw.

He reckons Gers will need to be wary of the dirty South Americans who turn out for Villarreal - who yesterday beat Espanyol 4-0 - in Wednesday's first leg at Ibrox.

Ronaldo said: "South American footballers use every trick in the book to secure victory. There is always an attempt to provoke opponents so they lose the place or lose their temper and earn a red card. Being a Brazilian I'd say Argentina and Uruguay are especially good at provocation.

"That's why so many South Americans are in Europe earning a living from football - it's because of our special know-how in terms of playing top-level, winning football. Such guys, usually defenders or midfielders, will wait until the ball has gone out or is about to go out then sneak up and kick you hard.

"While no-one is listening or looking they will insult your mother and stand back hoping you will lose your temper and get sent off.

"It happens all the time in the Spanish league. Villarreal have many players from South America. Their opponents should always be aware."

Meanwhile, Villarreal are willing to leave 3,000 seats empty for the return leg in Spain rather than run the risk of tickets getting into the hands of Rangers fans.

Only 15,000 of the Spanish side's 18,000 season ticket holders have bought briefs for the clash with Alex McLeish's men on March 7. But Villarreal are refusing to put any unsold seats on public sale for fear of them somehow ending up in the hands of Rangers supporters.

The Ibrox club have been allocated around 2000 tickets but thousands more punters are expected to travel in hope of landing a seat in Spain.

That, however, now looks highly unlikely as Villarreal try to clamp down on the possibility of visiting fans ending up in amongst the home support.

They have learned their lesson after a similar thing happened when they played Everton in the Champions League preliminary round in August. Unsold tickets went on public sale and some Toffees fans snapped them up - resulting in a heavy UEFA fine.

20.02.2006 09:10 +0300
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