Andre Silva lauds Cristiano Ronaldo's response to critics

Lisbon, September 1: Portguese striker Andre Silva has stated that his teammate and Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo should be commended for silencing his critics throughout his career, following the forward's five-game ban for pushing a referee.

The 32-year-old was handed the punishment after shoving Ricardo de Burgos in the back after he was sent off in the first leg of Real Madrid's Supercopa de Espana triumph over Barcelona.

Ronaldo saw an appeal against the ban rejected, something he later decried as "one more incomprehensible decision", meaning he will not be available for Madrid in LaLiga until the match against Real Betis on September 20.

He has been included in Portugal's squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Faroe Islands and Hungary, though, and team-mate Silva expects him to respond to his detractors once more on the pitch.

"He manages to shut many mouths that speak badly of him," the AC Milan striker told a news conference. "We all have the certainty that he will do a good job.

"Football is not a bed of roses. There are many injustices."

Portugal sit second in Group B after six matches, three points behind Switzerland.

The additional four-game ban Ronaldo received for pushing referee Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea at the Camp Nou on Aug. 13 was the shortest possible under Spanish federation rules, but Madrid still appealed the punishment as far as Spain's special sports court, to no avail.

Legal experts with knowledge of Ronaldo's tax problems say the case against him is so serious that he could face jail time. However, his legal representatives have maintained that it is all just a misunderstanding, and the player himself has likened those who look into his affairs to "insects".

Like Ronaldo, emerging striker Silva, a €38 million summer signing for AC Milan, is represented by Portuguese super-agent Jorge Mendes, whose company Gestifute has also been investigated by the Spanish tax authority, and is expected back in court at Madrid to provide evidence in the Ronaldo case in the coming weeks.