Estudiantes not looking to put on a show, says Veron

Abu Dhabi: Estudiantes will play hard but fair and will not be looking to put on a show when they face Barcelona in the Club World Cup final, captain Juan Sebastian Veron and coach Alejandro Sabella said on Friday.

The South American Libertadores Cup holders meet European champions Barcelona at Zayed Sports City (1600 GMT) looking to lift their second world title while the Spanish favourites want to win it for the first time to crown a glittering year. "We have always been the same, we have been treated as we are treated," Veron told reporters. "It`s the nature of the club, for some reason they called us animals in England."The team of 1968, in which Veron`s father Juan Ramon was the most skilled player, were accused of gamesmanship in the two-leg Intercontinental Cup victory over Manchester United when memories were fresh of the controversial 1966 World Cup quarter-final between England and Argentina at Wembley. Sabella began his playing career at River Plate and won league title with Estudiantes in 1982 and 1983. "One of the club`s commandments is to try by whatever means to enter the field with 11 players and leave with 11.” "That, for me, is fundamental and all the more so given the class of (tomorrow`s) rivals." Veron added: "Whoever wants to come and see a show, it`s better if they go to the theatre, what we want to do is try to win, we didn`t come here to put on a show.” ADVERSE CONDITIONS Veron said he drew extra motivation from his family ties to the club. "You don`t manage something like that, you inherit it and carry it with pride," he said. "Given the level of the match and the characteristics of the rivals, because I was born in the club with a father with a similar or better past at Estudiantes, lifting trophies for the club, it`s not going to be just another day, but rather the day." Veron was blown a kiss by his Argentina team mate and Barcelona`s potential match winner Lionel Messi at an earlier news conference. "We were playing (for Argentina) in the Copa America together and we started to get to know each other," Messi said looking back to mid-2007 in Venezuela. "I was new and inexperienced and he was a gentleman, very welcoming and helpful. I will never forget that." Bureau Report