Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho has asked referees to protect him and his teammates from defenders' tackles when they lead Brazil in next month's World Cup in Germany. The Brazilians are favorites to win the tournament for the sixth time in their history and Ronaldinho believes that opposing defenders will do everything possible to stop them from doing so. "All the teams are waiting for us and we will be doubly alert in paying attention to our attack," Ronaldinho was quoted as saying by BBC on Wednesday. "It's vital that refereeing is rigorous because of our style of playing," the 26-year-old added. After leading Barcelona to win the UEFA Champions League as well as their second consecutive La Liga title, the World player of the year will be well on course to retain his current title if he wins the World Cup with Brazil. "Every team we play regardless of their normal style of play defend against us, we are mindful that it's difficult to score goals in that case, the others play tight at the back and will wait to hit us on the counter-attack," Ronaldinho added. The five-time World champions, who seek to defend their 2002 World Cup title, will play their first game against Croatia on June 13th as part of Group F which also includes Australia and Japan.
