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Vidic issues Drogba alert

18 May 2008 - 14:12:46

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Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic has accused Didier Drogba of conning referees ahead of Wednesday's Champions League Final meeting with Chelsea.

The Serbia international has followed the example of Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, who questioned the striker's gamesmanship ahead of his own side's semi-final defeat to the Blues.

Vidic is concerned that the Ivory Coast striker will attempt to influence the referee in Moscow by play-acting.

"Sometimes he goes in very strong and sometimes he pretends he is weak," the no-nonsense defender told the Sunday Times.

"He plays with your mind and tries to make the defender think about the next tackle.

"He can pretend he fell down to win a penalty, but referees know that.

"The Champions League Final is a big game and I'm sure the ref will know his job.

"He's a great player and he's a top scorer. It's a hard job to stop him."

Meanwhile, Vidic claims he bears no ill-feelings towards Drogba despite suffering concussion after being caught in the face by the striker in the 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge towards the end of April.

He added: "He went for the ball and I don't think he wanted to kick me. It's in the past and I don't think about what happened in the past.

"I don't know if he said sorry. I remember nothing from those first five seconds after it happened, but he didn't need to apologise.

"When a player doesn't mean to kick me yet it happens, I understand that."