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Real Madrid coach Benitez praises Cristiano Ronaldo

Xinhua, July 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Real Madrid coach Rafael Bentiez has defended the attitude of striker Cristiano Ronaldo after the Portuguese forward showed his anger in leaving a practice match during Real Madrid's tour to Australia.

"He is a competitive player and that is the key. I think that is a positive question and not a defect," said Benitez when asked about the incident.

"After working with Ronaldo, you can see how competitive he is and how much he wants to win," he said, heaping praise on the forward.

"That is what makes him the best player in the world and I wish that all of the players had the same desire to compete and to win that he shows on a daily basis," added the coach.

"I always try and get the best from all of my players and seeing how Cristiano works close up, you can see why he has won so many titles. He is clearly the best in the world," he announced.

However, despite praising his star player, Benitez said his relationship with him "was the same as with the rest of the players. I try to speak to all of them," stated the coach.

Real Madrid will fly to China in the coming days where they will play Inter Milan and AC Milan and the coach said they had put the disappointment of losing their opening friendly of the summer (against AS Roma) behind them.

"They are working well and their fitness is improving," he said, adding that he was certain that central defender Serio Ramos would stay despite interest from Manchester United and that recent signing, goalkeeper Kiko Casilla, would work for a few days with the squad before making his debut. Endi