Larsson: Webb will not fall for Ronaldo’s ‘tricks’

Sebastian Larsson claims Sweden will be able to give Cristiano Ronaldo a rough ride in tonight’s World Cup play-off in Stockholm because English referee Howard Webb will not fall for his “tricks”.

Portugal go into the match leading 1-0 from the first leg — Ronaldo scored the only goal with a diving header — but Larsson believes the appointment of an English referee could be crucial to Sweden’s hopes of making the finals in Brazil next summer.

Ronaldo won a number of free-kicks during the first leg but Sunderland midfielder Larsson said: “We have an English referee now so we can probably go in a bit harder.