Parreira plays down Ronaldo fitness fears

Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira played down Ronaldo's exit midway through the friendly international against New Zealand on Sunday.

كتب : Amro Hassan

الإثنين، 05 يونيو 2006 - 17:41
Ronaldo working hard on his knee
Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira played down Ronaldo's exit midway through the friendly international against New Zealand on Sunday.

The Real Madrid ace struck the opener in Brazil's 4-0 drubbing of the New Zealanders before being substituted during half-time because of blisters on his feet.

"We tried to do something at halftime but it continued to bother him and the doctor decided that the best thing to do was to rest him," Parreira was quoted as saying by SkySports.com after the game.

Parreira urged the media not to make a fuss about the 29-year-old's fitness.

"Please don’t make a seven headed animal out of this, it's not a big issue, it will be alright in 48 hours," Parreira added.

The Brazilian tactician was satisfied with his team's performance against New Zealand, noting that it provided a sufficient conclusion for their World Cup build-up.

"Three goals would have been enough," Parreira said.

"The most important thing is that we created a lot of chances, their keeper made three or four good saves and we had more than 20 shots on goal, it was a very good test," he added.

Brazil will kick off their World Cup campaign against Croatia on June 13th before meeting Australia and Japan in their Group F.