29 March 2006, by Tom Kundert

Ricardo Rocha congratulated by Ronaldinho

At the start of yesterday’s Champions League encounter Benfica supporters must have feared the worst as it became clear that Ronald Koeman had selected Ricardo Rocha as the man to keep a tight rein on Barcelona’s Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho.

The countless red and yellow cards picked up over the years since moving from Braga to Benfica probably explains why Ricardo Rocha has yet to be called up to the full senior squad by Luiz Filipe Scolari, despite being a regular for one of Portugal’s top clubs.

However, like at Old Trafford, Rocha rose to the occasion to produce a faultless performance. His unfailing concentration and impeccable timing helped to keep the damage caused by the extravagantly talented Ronaldinho to a minimum.

The Brazilian still managed to produce a series of inventive arrowed passes, always finding the intended target, but was never able to truly break free from the shackles of Rocha’s close attentions.

And his efforts were acknowledged by Ronaldinho himself who made a point of congratulating Rocha on the job he had done.

“At the end of the match he congratulated me, and getting congratulations from the best player in the world doesn’t happen every day,” said a satisfied Rocha.

“It’s a complicated job, but I tried to do my best. It’s impossible to be easy, he’s the best in the world and it was extremely tough.”

Rocha believes Benfica’s chances of progress are intact, despite failing to construct an advantage to take to the Nou Camp. “We believe we can win always. We’ve already proved what we can do in this competition,” added the former Braga player.

Match report: Benfica 0-0 Barcelona