Barcelona - Barcelona defender Gerard Pique leapt to the defence of
Chelsea striker Didier Drogba here on Monday, denying the Ivorian had
"cheated" during last week's Champions League semi-final clash.
Drogba's
conduct during Chelsea's 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge has attracted a
storm of criticism in England, with the 34-year-old accused of
repeatedly feigning injury to disrupt Barcelona's rhythm.
However,
the two-time former African Footballer of the Year received staunch
support from centre-half Pique, who said he had no doubts about the
Ivorian's integrity.
"Every time a player goes down and complains I
believe he has been hurt," Pique said. "I trust the player every time
he goes down. I don't think he's been criticised. I believe in Drogba, I
believe in his honesty.
"I think every time he goes down it's
because he's in pain or he felt a kick. I don't think that Drogba is
trying to act or dive. I don't think so. Because he's not like that."
Pique,
who did not play in the first leg and also missed Barcelona's 'Clasico'
defeat to Real Madrid on Saturday, said he is confident the Spaniards
could overturn their first leg deficit.
"We have to play our game
and play 90 minutes with the ball. We will have our chances. I don't
know if we will score or not but we will have to work hard to find the
chances," he said.
"If we have 70 percent possession like we've
had in the last few days and years I think we will have opportunities to
get to the final.
"It's hard to play against Chelsea because
they are strong, really competitive, they know how to play these games
because they have a lot of experience.
"It's always difficult
when you play against guys like (Frank) Lampard, (Didier) Drogba - these
kind of players have a lot of games in their legs and they know what
they are doing."
- AFP