Stars need more protection, says Ronaldo

Top stars need more protection from referees than they are getting at the World Cup, Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo has complained.

Ronaldo had a frustrating time in his side’s opening goalless draw with Ivory Coast in Group G, the Real Madrid star picking up a booking for diving while extending his scoring drought at international level which goes back in competitive games to before the qualifiers.

“I don’t understand the decisions of the referees sometimes,” said Ronaldo. “They are supposed to protect the best players.”

The Portuguese Federation has taken his side in appealing the yellow card, a statement revealed late Wednesday in Lisbon.

The Federation added that Ronaldo was “surrounded by opposing players who pushed and insulted him.”

Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda elected to deal with the incident by booking both Ronaldo and Ivorian Guy Demel.

While Ronaldo’s comments suggest he believes his reputation for not staying on his feet goes before him, Argentina coach Diego Maradona has also called for referees to watch out for over-enthusiastic defending.

In the build-up to Thursday’s match against South Korea, Maradona, who received plenty of kicks in his time annoyed the South Koreans by saying that facing them in a 1986 clash was ‘more like taekwondo than football.’

South Korea coach Huh Jung-Moo faced Maradona’s men that year on the pitch, picking up a booking.

Huh has told his men to enjoy Thursday’s game and insisted his men have no need to resort to dangerous tackles.

“It is up to the referee, but in 1986, when the national Korean team met Argentina at the World Cup, we didn’t have a lot of experience,” said Huh.