I'm grown up

...the taunts just make me to do better... it doesn't bother me...

Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has insisted he is too grown up to react to diving accusations and the critics should rather have a look at the number of kicks he gets in a game.

22-year-old Portuguese has been in the thick of the diving accusations yet again since he earned a penalty kick at Tottenham Hotspur in the Premiership match last Sunday.

Ronaldo had a dubious reputation for being a diver last season and his performance at the World Cup in Germany, where he was also involved in a winking controversy as his Red Devils team-mate Wayne Rooney was sent off during the England v Portugal quarter-final, sullied his image all the more.

Faced with taunts like “cheat” by supporters of Red Devils’ rival clubs, Ronaldo said: “The taunts just make me want to do better.”

“It's because people think I am a diver that I lost the title of best young player at the World Cup. But it doesn't bother me. I'll just get on with things. Critics should look at the number of kicks I get in a game,” he added.

Ronaldo also reiterated his great bonding with Rooney. “After everything that went on, Wayne and I are still the best of mates. “That has been proved the way we have played this season. Wayne and I are like brothers and what happened at the World Cup has just made our friendship firmer.”

"The reaction to him being sent off was very strong. I took quite a lot of stick, but it never bothered me. At Manchester everybody was always behind me at all times After the game, and Wayne's deserved sending off, we saw each other.

“He wished me luck and we sent each other texts, just like mates."

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