Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic has
turned up the heat ahead of the Champions League final by accusing
Chelsea's Didier Drogba of play-acting.
"Sometimes he goes in very strong, and sometimes he pretends he
is very weak," Vidic said ahead of Wednesday's final. "He plays
with your mind and tries to make you think about the next
tackle."
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez claimed he had a dossier on the
Ivorian's "diving" before their semi-final last month. It provoked
Drogba into producing a match-winning performance in the Champions
League semi-finals following Benitez's comments.
And while Vidic expressed his respect for Drogba's abilities,
the centre-back warned that Wednesday's referee will need to pay
close attention to his antics.
He told the Sunday Times: "He can pretend he fell down to win a
penalty, but referees know that. The Champions League final is a
big game and I'm sure the ref will know his job."
Vidic, meanwhile, refused to blame Drogba for an incident which
saw him leave the field with concussion after the striker's knee
hit him the head in the Premier League last month.
"I don't protect myself. I leave myself too open for players to
kick me or hurt me. "I'm not saying they want to - it just happens
- but maybe I need to work on my protection. I want to win the ball
and don't care how and maybe because of that I get hurt.
"Everyone puts me among the hardest players, and says forwards
when they play me need to protect themselves, but that's not true.
"I don't try to hurt people and I don't want to go around saying
I'm tough. I go in aggressive, yes, and try to win every ball, but
I'm not anything special."
