Milan coach hails Dida, takes blame for Madrid blunder

Milan: AC Milan coach Leonardo hailed Dida after he was one of the heroes of their 2-1 victory at Chievo Verona and took some of the blame for the goalkeeper`s dreadful blunder in the midweek Champions League win at Real Madrid.

The Brazilian was excellent in Sunday`s comeback win that lifted Milan to joint fourth in Serie A, producing a stunning save in the closing stages with the score at 1-1 before defender Alessandro Nesta grabbed his second goal to clinch victory.Dida had come in for intense criticism after letting the ball slip to gift Real the opening goal in Wedensday`s Champions League clash that Milan went on to win 3-2 at the Bernabeu."Dida made an extraordinary save (against Chievo) and showed he has a great ability to put such a big mistake behind him and move on," Leonardo told a television channel. "I was partly to blame for the Madrid mistake as I told him to look to restart our attacks as soon as he got the ball. So he rushed and the ball hit his knee." Bureau Report