Cristiano Ronaldo
XABI ALONSO says Spain have no special plans to
stop Cristiano Ronaldo but admits he has been in touch with his Real
Madrid team-mate ahead of tonight’s Euro 2012 semi-final against
Portugal.
Ronaldo has been one of the players of the tournament, scoring three goals, including their winner in the quarter-final.
But
former Liverpool midfielder Alonso, who scored twice in the Spaniards’
last-eight victory over France, insists there is no reason for his side
to be nervous.
“Cristiano
is a great player, I should know that. And of course we have talked.
But we have no special plan to stop him,” he said.
“All we can do is stay as
close as possible and play with the same style we always do, regardless
of the opponent. And it’s not only Ronaldo, of course. Portugal have
changed their coach [Paulo Bento] from the
World
Cup in 2010 and are greatly improved. They showed against Germany in the
group stage and the Czechs in their quarter-final that they’re
dangerous from the midfield up.
Cristiano is a great player, I should know that. And of course we have talked. But we have no special plan to stop him
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Xabi Alonso
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“But we are very confident in how we play, so we won’t change. We have come so far playing this way and we will continue.”
The
biggest hurdle for Spain may be dealing with the pressure of being
favourites again, having already won the World Cup in 2010 and the Euros
in 2008.
“We live with that pressure all the
time, whether it is logical or not,” said Alonso, who won his 100th cap
against the French, when he scored with a header and a penalty. “But all
we are focusing on is our semi-final. All the teams in the last four
are there because they deserve it and all are trying to win the ball and
play offensively. We want to do the same.”
Midfielder
Andres Iniesta believes any perceived lack of entertainment in Spain’s
games is due to opponents setting out purely to defend against the world
champions.
Source of this from http://www.express.co.uk
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