'People in Portugal need to appreciate that Ronaldo is the best player in the world' - Joao Pereira

Nov 2, 2012 4:00:00 PM

The young centre-back believes his compatriot is unfairly compared with Luis Figo and the 'Golden Generation', and thinks the los Blancos attacker deserves more recognition

Portugal Under-21 defender Joao Pereira believes that Cristiano Ronaldo is under-appreciated in his homeland, and rejected claims that the Real Madrid star fails to perform for the Seleccao.

Paulo Bento's side have started their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign in poor form, having dropped points to both Russia and Northern Ireland.

However, the young centre-back believes that too much is expected of the former Manchester United man when he represents his country.

"I think what Ronaldo and Messi are doing at the moment is incredible. At the end of every season, people keep saying '[Lionel] Messi won't be able to do that again' or 'Ronaldo won't be able to score more goals again', but every season they improve. It is incredible," Pereira said in a phone interview.

"I think people [in Portugal] need to appreciate that we have the best player in the world at the moment, along with Messi."

"It is natural that Ronaldo normally plays better for Real Madrid. He is there all month with the same players learning routines. He then meets up with Portugal for only one week and it is natural he doesn't always play the same [as at club level]."

Pereira also believes the Seleccao deserve more credit after their impressive showing at Euro 2012, which saw them reach the semi-final stage before being eliminated.

"If you look at Portugal's team now, we have a lot of quality - Ronaldo, Nani, [Joao] Moutinho and young players like Nelson [Oliveira].

"We were the only team in 2012 to cause Spain real problems and we had a good tournament. You look at the final: Italy lost 4-0 and they came nowhere close [to winning].

"We need to stop talking about the 'Golden Generation' of Luis Figo and Rui Costa all the time."

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Champions League final - LIVE!

German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will battle it out at Wembley for European glory. Get involved by sending us your thoughts via Twitter or Facebook! Hosted by Mark Doyle.

6:40 PM BST

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Borussia Dortmund have announced their starting line-up for tonight's Champions League final!! And it's as we predicted, with Kevin Grosskreutz starting on the left-hand side and Marco Reus moving infield to fill the void left by the injured Mario Gotze.

Dortmund XI v Bayern: Weidenfeller; Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer; Gundogan, Bender; Blaszczykowski, Reus, Grosskreutz; Lewandowski.

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Questions rolling in for our own Carlo Garganese over on Twitter, the most left-field of which comes 'I'm Moeg, Sien jy! ‏@MurGyver 34s', who writes:

"Is it true that players can't wear underwear in the final?"

Surely you have to log on now for no other reason than to find out the answer to that cracking enquiry?!

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Bayern have arrived at Wembley! The legendary Lothar Mattheus will obviously be cheering on die Roten this evening, but he is just hoping that Fussball is the winner tonight:

"The whole world will watch the game," the World Cup winner told Sky Sport Germany. "It electrifies the masses. Never before there was so much talk about a Champions League final than this time.

"Both groups of fans know the whole world is watching. We have to present ourselves similar to the way we did at WC 2006 because it brings a lot of sympathy. Today we have another chance to present Germany in a positive way."

Unfortunately, there were reports of some clashes between rival sets of fans earlier in the day, but, happily, the atmosphere at the ground is wonderfully good-natured.

6:18 PM BST

Former Dortmund goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was present at the Champions League festival earlier and he is tipping his former side for the title: "I think Bayern are a little stronger but if I was to have a bet, I would bet on Dortmund because that would win me more money!"

However, our tipster Hugh Wilson reckons that the value is a punt on both sides scoring in the first half ...

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