Real seek to defuse anger over Ronaldo

Real Madrid sought to appease Manchester United on Tuesday after the European champions threatened to report them to world football’s governing body FIFA over their interest in Cristiano Ronaldo.

Real have made clear their admiration of Ronaldo in a number of public statements in recent weeks, whilst also acknowledging that the 23-year-old Portugal winger is a United player.
Relieved Ronaldo spared his worst day

“We haven’t done anything and we are not going to do anything that goes against the wishes of a club we regard as a friend like United. We have a magnificent relationship with them,” Real president Ramon Calderon told reporters.

“We aren’t going to start a conflict. If a club doesn’t want to sell a player why would we insist they sell him? We know they aren’t a selling club. It is a problem between the player and his team.”

The English champions are determined to hold on to a player who scored 42 goals for United in the season just ended and was voted English Footballer of the Year for a second year running.

Earlier in the day, United took the unusual step of issuing a club statement on their Web site headlined: “United issue Real warning.”

In it, the club said they had watched with “growing irritation” the comments attributed to Real Madrid.

The statement continued: “The facts are that (1) The player is on a long-term contract and his registration is held by Manchester United. (2) The player is not for sale.

“The club will have no alternative but to report Real Madrid to the world governing body, FIFA, if it continues to behave in this totally unacceptable fashion.

“These public attempts to unsettle the player are completely against the regulations and the club will not tolerate them any longer.”

United also said it believed the pursuit of their player is a “distraction for the Portuguese national squad as they prepare for the European Championships.”

NO DOUBTS

It concluded: “No-one should be in any doubt that Manchester United will do everything in its power to keep its best players.”

Real coach Bernd Schuster last month described Ronaldo as “the best player in the world” and, although he expected United to keep their player in the short term, the coach said he could see him at Real “in a couple of years.”

Calderon said earlier this month that signing Ronaldo would be “a utopia”, but added “We can’t force a player to sign.”

After last week’s final, United manager Alex Ferguson criticised Real at a news conference.

“Schuster’s talking and Calderon’s talking,” he said. “Real think they can ride roughshod over everyone, but they won’t do it with us.

“Real Madrid are not the only club interested in Ronaldo. But the others are not saying so. They don’t get into this nonsense.”

In recent years United have sold David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Gabriel Heinze to Real Madrid but Ferguson said last week the case of Ronaldo is different to those deals.

He told reporters: “Yes, we sold them Van Nistelrooy and Beckham but we did that because we wanted to.”

Ronaldo scored United’s goal in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea in last week’s Champions League final in Moscow [Images] and although he missed his penalty in the shoot-out, United went on to lift the trophy winning 6-5 on penalties.

Asked about his future after the final, Ronaldo told reporters: “I don’t promise nothing. I don’t promise nothing to my mum, I don’t promise nothing to supporters.”

Rain delays put Rafael Nadal at disadvantage

Roger Federer was not spotted in the French Open environs yesterday. He was probably back in his snug accommodation, enjoying a snigger at the juicy irony of it all. An opponent of Sunday starts at grand-slam tournaments, the world No1 was far away from the madhouse as those who were forced to wait until Tuesday for their first-round appointment kicked their heels – if they could find enough space in the clustered corridors of Roland Garros to move a leg.

It is because of days such as these that Wimbledon, after years of sticking to the belief that a Centre Court roof was a monstrosity, decided it was the right thing to do and next year, we shall see the beauty unveiled in all its glory. The “should they/shouldn’t they?” debate may be about to consume the leaders of the French Federation, who usually respond to suggestions of what they might do with their championship with sniffy indifference.

Rafael Nadal was in a chirpy mood in the morning, to the extent that he was happy to be shown an excerpt for the Headcases TV show that features an Andy Murray Misery Line. Once it had been translated for him, Nadal shook his head, amazed that a country could treat a professional sportsman with such disdain. At 7.25, the three-times champion knew what misery was, for it was only then that he was summoned, a very un-jolly giant dressed in green, for his first-round match against Thomaz Bellucci, a Brazilian qualifier. Nadal, who stayed on for only 20 minutes before it poured again, is at a distinct disadvantage to many in the field.

At Wimbledon last year, the Spaniard required five days to complete a match against Robin Söderling, of Sweden. Yesterday, Söderling crushed Juan Monaco, the No13 seed from Argentina, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1, playing the final rally with a gigantic smile on his face. Another who salvaged something was Stanislas Wawrinka, of Switzerland, the No9 seed and BNL D’Italia Masters finalist in Rome a fortnight ago, who thrashed Philipp Kohlschreiber, of Germany. The more you watch Wawrinka, the more he looks to be a possible contender here.

Far from the damp and drizzle of France, in Izmir, Turkey, it was 80F (26.5C) and that, and George Bastl, 33, a Swiss whose best days are long behind him, was a mite too hot for Alex Bogdanovic, who lost in the first round of an ATP Challenger event, 6-3, 6-1. In Bogdanovic’s company was Brad Gilbert, notionally the British No3’s coach for the past seven months, during which time his ranking has fallen from No161 to No242.

Gilbert, it is understood, will be back behind the microphone at Wimbledon next month, working for ESPN, the American network. One has to assume, therefore, that his partnership with Bogdanovic has almost run its unsatisfactory course.