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Luxemburgo defends jeered Ronaldo
MADRID, March 3 (Reuters) - Real Madrid coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo came to the defence of Ronaldo after the Brazilian striker was jeered by fans during his side's 3-1 victory at home to Real Betis on Wednesday.
'The people that jeered him today will be cheering him tomorrow,' Luxemburgo told a news conference after the match.
'He worked hard, fought, went in search of the goal and tried everything, but sometimes in football no matter how hard you try, the ball won't go in the net.'
Ronaldo, who has not scored in the last seven league games, came in for heavy criticism from the Spanish media for arrival late for training after his recent Valentine's Day engagement celebrations in Paris.
The 28-year-old was in lively form at the Bernabeu and created several scares for the Betis defence, but was unable to end his recent scoring drought.
'I was very satisfied with his work out on the pitch and saw no reason to substitute him,' Luxemburgo said. 'The important thing is that he keeps on working and that way he will win over the fans again.
'Ronaldo has got a lot of experience and knows that if he gets two goals in the next game, the fans will applaud him and everything will be forgotten.'
Ronaldo has been Real's top scorer in each of the two seasons since he joined the club from Inter Milan and is the club's leading striker in the present campaign with 11 goals, two more than Michael Owen.