World Kick Off

Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos has become the latest blanco to add his voice to the clamour calling for the signing of Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo...

Both young Spaniard Ramos and Portuguese ace Ronaldo are currently ensconced with their respective national sides, but club concerns are seldom far away.

On a day that Cristiano spoke about his "dream" of a move to Spain - but tempered it with a statement about his head being in Manchester - Sergio Ramos also offered his thoughts.

"It wouldn't be bad," he said to Marca of the prospect of having the Premier League top scorer around.

"I think everybody would love to have such a player.

"Right now he's the best in the world, and he'd always be welcome in our team."

Selection Issues

However, the young Andalucían quickly moved on to talk about the Spanish national squad, putting aside the issues of signings.

To this end he weighed in on the minor controversy engulfing La Furia Roja, mostly focusing around the respective absences of coach Luis Aragonés and goalkeeper Iker Casillas last week, stating that there was no lasting problem.

He also spoke to RealMadrid.com about the prospects of Spanish success in Austria and Switzerland.

"We're starting off well. We had time to enjoy the league championship and now [the Madrid contingent] are keen to link up with our colleagues and aim for an important goal," he enthused.

No Playing Favourites

Brushing aside the idea that Spain might be favourites, the ex-Sevilla man urged "humility and tranquility: we have the dream of winning the title, of course, but we must go step-by-step, focusing first on the three group games.

"But the goal is winning the title and being champions. That requires a high level of play, a tiny margin for error, and hard work to achieve these.

"We realise that our squad is pretty good, we have major players at home, and internationally in England, and it's high time that we man up and make a difference."

Steve Michaels, Goal.com