'Leave him alone'

Barcelona star Ronaldinho spins the ball on his finger during a training session at the Nou Camp on Wednesday.Photo: AFP

Barcelona's three-time African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto'o on Wednesday urged the media to stop speculating about the leg muscle problem that has caused his teammate Ronaldinho to miss the club's last four Spanish league matches.
"Leave him (Ronaldinho) in peace. Everyone talks and writes about it but no one waits for him to give his opinion, speak his truth. Leave him, when he is ready, he will speak," said the Cameroon star.
"If he says that he is hurt, then he is hurt. There are injuries that can't be seen in a scan.
"Every day he is here working on his recovery and we can't ask anything more of him," Eto'o added.
Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard says the 28-year-old FIFA former World Player of the Year has been absent because of muscle "discomforts" in his right leg.
But a report from the Catalan club's medical staff, published on March 17 on Barcelona's web site, said scans found he had "neither a tendon nor muscular injury."
The injury problem has fuelled media speculation of a rift between Ronaldinho - whose performances have been criticised as never before this season - and the club with reports suggesting Barcelona will offload the Brazilian player at the end of the season.
Last month Barcelona Joan Laporta moved to quash the media speculation, telling reporters there was no "divorce" between the club and the player. Ronaldinho on Wednesday trained normally with the rest of his teammates.