Cristiano Ronaldo is a great human player but Messi is a Martian, claims Basile

While he acknowledged the Real Madrid ace's footballing ability, the veteran trainer described his compatriot as from another planet, and thus cannot be compared to his peers.

 The 68-year-old believes that while the Real Madrid forward is a great player in his own right, the Argentine's is presently in a league of his own and cannot be measured against other footballers. "You cannot compare anyone to Messi.

 Cristiano Ronaldo is a great human player, but Messi is a Martian. He can run with the ball at an even higher speed than without the ball," Basile stated to Radio 9. "It's as if he's playing another sport. It's nearly impossible to do the things he does at that speed.

 He just keeps getting better and is always improving." Basile also had his say on whether Pele or Diego Maradona was a better player, but struggled to give a definitive answer.

 "Pele was an absolute monster and had a fantastic physique," he added. "Maradona was another genius and better in tight spaces.

 Diego was the team's leader, whereas Pele was more of an individual player."

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Ronaldo brushes aside the critics

Portugal attacker Cristiano Ronaldo has insisted that he is not troubled by the criticism of his performances for the national team. 

 The Real Madrid man was the subject of scathing attacks after his underwhelming performances against Germany and Denmark in the opening two Group B matches of Euro 2012, but responded well with superb showings against the Netherlands and Czech Republic. 

You can't please everyone. But I don't get angry or frustrated by it," Ronaldo told reporters. 

The bigger star you become, the greater pressure there is on you to perform at a level acceptable to get people off your back. "Even Messi has his critics. 

I accept it as a part of being a professional footballer. It takes a bigger man to ignore it and just get on with playing. 

I don't have an agenda where I set out to appease critics. I just go out and play to the best of my ability.

 Ronaldo then took time to praise the unity within Paulo Bento's squad, and said that the Seleccao's team spirit is the key to their success ahead of a semi-final clash with Spain. 

We're improving and that's important. There is great unity in our squad, we've a good team spirit and that helps," he added. 

It's been difficult to get this far, but we enter this stage with a great deal of optimism no matter who we face in the semi-final. "Our objective now is to reach the final. 

Why not? There's greater pressure on other sides in this tournament and we've been able to progress without excessive expectations. "No matter what happens now we should all be congratulated."

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Di Stefano hails Ronaldo

Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano has heaped praise on Cristiano Ronaldo, who he feels is enjoying a 'fantastic' Euro 2012 campaign.

 The Portugal talisman looked decidedly off the boil in his nation's first two games of the tournament, but has since scored three goals in two games to fire Paulo Bento’s men into the semi finals.

 Reflecting on the winger's performances in Poland and Ukraine, the 85-year-old is delighted to see Ronaldo excel in Poland and Ukraine, but also reserved credit for his team-mates. 

I have not seen all the Euro 2012 matches but Cristiano Ronaldo is having a fantastic competition," Di Stefano told Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias.

He stood out with a great goal against Czech Republic. 

He is a very complete player, a forward who is there to score goals. "Pepe and (Fabio) Coentrao are also having great competitions. Pepe is a phenomenal player.

 Ronaldo's chances of wrestling the Ballon d'Or crown away from Barcelona’s Lionel Messi are set to be increased after a strong tournament, and Di Stefano has backed him for the accolade.

Messi and Cristiano are two of the world's best players, but I want the best in the world to be recognised as a Real Madrid player," Di Stefano said.

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Portugal into semis: Ronaldo nets winner

Cristiano Ronaldo stood up to be counted once again as he lead Portugal into the Euro 2012 semi-finals after a 1-0 victory over the Czech Republic at the National Stadium in Warsaw.

 The Real Madrid star would head home the only goal of the game with 11 minutes to seal a narrow victory for the Seleccao and set up a date with either Spain or France on June 27.

 Both sides seemed reluctant to overcommit in attack in a cautious first-half, though Ronaldo would come closest in first-half injury time with a low drive that rebounded off the post.

 Portugal would attempt to take control in the second-half, sending in a number of shots at Petr Cech's goal, but were largely frustrated in their attempts to breach a Czech defence which had conceded the most goals of any team in the quarter-finals.

 However, Ronaldo would settle affairs with his third goal in the tournament so far that cemented his side's place in the last four clash for the first time since 2004.

 The only change for either side was the inclusion of Vladimir Darida ahead of Daniel Kolar in midfield for the Czech Republic, who also saw captain Tomas Rosicky named as a substitute for the second game running amid concerns over an achilles tendon injury.

 Amid a sizeable fan presence inside the National Stadium, the Czechs just about managed to claim the upper hand during the initial exchanges, as their control of possession restricted Portugal’s enterprise to forays forward on the counter.

 Nevertheless, the first hint of an opening fell to Joao Moutinho after 13 minutes, the Porto midfielder squeezing in a shot on the turn that was comfortably snatched by Cech.

 It was a half-chance at best, and illustrative of the cagey beginning to the match, which saw both sides struggle to really stamp their authority on proceedings.

 Ronaldo appeared to force Cech into action with a powerful drive after racing into the box, but the chance was quickly snuffed out by an offside call.

 Nani and Miguel Veloso were then both booked within minutes of each other after a pair of thumping challenges on Darida and David Limbersky.

 Slowly, Portugal would begin to make an improved contribution to the game, eschewing their long-ball approach for a more concerted offensive effort, with Ronaldo, as ever, at the heart of things.

 The Real Madrid star would go close with an audacious overhead kick that flashed just wide following a struggle by the Czech defence to clear a corner, before sending a 30-yard free kick off target.

 However, the Seleccao were handed a blow with 39 minutes gone when Helder Postiga limped off clutching his hamstring, with Hugo Almedia coming on in his stead.

 The change did not faze Portugal too much however, who went closest to snatching the lead on the stroke of half-time.

 Ronaldo collected Fabio Coentrao’s cross perfectly on the turn, and drilled a low attempt that bounced agonizingly off the base of the post.

 Ronaldo would come close once more a few minutes after the restart, with another long-range free kick brushing off the woodwork via a save by Cech.

 Portugal were looking the superior side as the second-half unfolded, with Raul Meireles sending a pair of efforts over the bar, before Nani forced Cech to parry his low drive towards goal.

 The Chelsea goalkeeper would have to be alert once more to tip over a piledriver from Moutinho at full stretch as the match crossed the hour mark with the Czech Republic struggling to get a sniff of the ball.

 Meireles snatched at an opening from just inside the box, before slipping in Nani, whose deflected effort came close to looping into the top corner.

 But just when it looked like there would be no way through for Portugal, up stepped Ronaldo to bounce a punishing header into the back of the net from a great cross from Moutinho.

 Pereira nearly increased the Seleccao's advantage within moments with a well-taken drive, but Cech was equal to it and expertly tipped wide.

 But Czech Republic's subdued second-half continued as they simply could not find a way back into the match, failing to come close to an equaliser as their tournament ended with a whimper.

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Messi ignores Ronaldo jibe

Barcelona star Lionel Messi has chosen to ignore the comments made by Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo about him during Euro 2012.

 After being taunted by Denmark fans chanting Messi's name during Portugal's match against Morten Olsen's team, Ronaldo lashed out by slating the Argentine's failure to claim silverware with the Albiceleste at Copa America in 2011.

 "I have nothing to say with regards to Cristiano Ronaldo's comments," Messi told reporters.

 Questioned about a potential transfer to Real Madrid, Messi reiterated his desire to retire at Barcelona, where he has played since 2000.

 "I do not think about joining Madrid," the 24-year-old added. "Barcelona are my home and I would be delighted to play there until I retire.

 "I hope that is what happens." Messi went on to comment on the managerial changes at Camp Nou, with Tito Vilanova taking the reins after Pep Guardiola decided to step down as coach to take a year out of the game. "We are very happy that Tito is Guardiola's replacement," he affirmed.

 "He is someone we know, he works the same way that Guardiola did.

 "We are obviously sad that Pep has left us, because we did not expect it, but with Tito the way we work will not suffer any changes."

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Ronaldo dumps out Dutch

A double from Cristiano Ronaldo ensured that Portugal finished in second place in Group B and condemned Netherlands to an early exit from Euro 2012 as it finished 2-1 in Kharkiv.

 Ronaldo, who had been criticised for his lack of form earlier in the tournament, equalised Rafael van der Vaart's fine curling effort in the first-half and then bagged another with just over 15 minutes to go to seal his side's comeback.

 Apart from a fine early strike from Rafael van der Vaart, Netherlands were poor, ensuring a team considered among the pre-tournament favourites finished bottom of Group B without a point to their name.

 The match was 11 minutes old when Netherlands's hopes of reaching the quarter-finals were given a shot in the arm.

 Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben weaved a path to the edge of the area where Van der Vaart was waiting to steer an inch-perfect finish into the bottom left corner.

 A moment of madness from Gregory van der Wiel almost saw Netherlands concede the advantage but, having inexplicably passed the ball to Helder Postiga, he watched in relief as the Portugal striker shot wide with only Maarten Stekelenburg to beat.

 Stekelenburg then kept out a well-struck header by Ronaldo, who would not be denied in the 28th minute.

 The initial damage was done by Joao Pereira's defence-splitting pass and Ronaldo rewarded his vision with a composed first touch and slick finish. 

Nani missed narrowly, but it was Portugal's captain who was the prominent figure on the pitch as he twice went close to seizing the lead.

 Netherlands's defence was in danger over being over-run with Ronaldo cast at their tormentor in chief with Portugal pushing for a second.

 The Real Madrid forward continued to attack the Dutch early in the second half, but his side should have trailed in the 53th minute.

 Wesley Sneijder crossed from the left to the unmarked Ron Vlaar only for his clumsy attempted header to drift off-target from close range.

 Postiga had a goal disallowed for offside before Fabio Coentrao was denied by sharp reactions from Stekelenburg, who then frustrated Nani from point-blank range after a marauding run by Ronaldo.

 The Portugal wingers combined once again in the 74th minute, and this time Netherlands cracked.

 A swift counter attack ended with Nani feeding a long pass to Ronaldo who dummied his shot, took the ball into space and prodded home.

 Van der Vaart curled an effort onto the right post as Netherlands produced a strong finish, but there was still time for Ronaldo to hit the woodwork.

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