Cristiano Ronaldo has been called a “cheat” and a “diver” by Gareth Southgate this season but Julio Arca believes his manager should see the bigger picture.
Middlesbrough’s renascent Argentinian feels the Manchester United winger’s flaws are thoroughly out-weighed by his extraordinary talent and was proud to swap shirts with Ronaldo at the end of last weekend’s 2-2 FA Cup draw between the sides. “He’s the best player in the world,” enthused Arca last week. “Ronaldo is better than Ronaldinho at the moment.”
Ironically the former Sunderland midfielder arguably outshone the Portuguese on a quarter-final afternoon when he memorably nutmegged Ronaldo. It is a feat he would love to repeat during tomorrow’s replay at Old Trafford.
“After I did it, he said ‘nice one’; that was good to hear,” recalled Arca. “We were laughing together about it after the game and we swapped shirts; I can’t see anything wrong with him.”
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