Eto'o: Give Ronaldinho some peace

Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o has come out in defense of his beleaguered teammate Ronaldinho and has suggested that the press should accept that the Brazilian is injured and leave it at that.

Past reports have suggested that Eto'o and Ronaldinho do not see eye-to-eye, but the Cameroonian obviously feels some sympathy for his teammate, as he has asked for the press and club supporters to back off and let Ronaldinho recover in peace.

"If he says that he is hurt, then he is hurt," he told Marca. "It is not necessary to discuss whether or not he will leave ... it is necessary to leave him in peace. Everybody writes and talks about him, but nobody has waited for him to speak and express his side of it. When he is available, he will speak."

He also had some harsh words for former Paris Saint Germain coach Luis Fernandez, who spoke about Ronaldinho's behavior while in Paris in his recently published book.

"Who cares what he did in a hotel seven years ago? It is enough already," he lamented.

As the interview drew to a close, Eto'o also wanted to clarify suggestions that Ronaldinho's situation was a case of club versus player.

"This is not a confrontation between the club and the player," he confirmed. "It would be such a problem if Ronaldinho did not train ... but he does. Every day he is here working on his recovery and we cannot ask any more of him," he concluded.