Ronaldo threatened again

The astonishing outburst comes the day after the Manchester United midfielder received another, if less severe, warning from Middlesbrough's George Boateng.

Portugal face Belgium in Lisbon on Saturday with the comments sure to make for an electric atmosphere.

"After two minutes we will have massacred him so much that he will have to leave the field on a stretcher," Stijnen said. "What else do we need to do? Portugal have greater quality and that's why we have to do things our way. If we try to play like them we will certainly lose.

Stijnen has since claimed he was misquoted by Belgian newspaper Gazet Van Antwerpen.

"I don't think my words are shocking," Stijnen said. "We're the visiting team and have to do things our way. I didn't mean to say that we have to specifically get Cristiano Ronaldo off the pitch, but we have to play hard against the Portuguese players.

"I'm not saying Belgium have to break anyone's leg, but we have to be aggressive. We have to play with character and not spare our opponents' tibias."

On Wednesday, Ronaldo was on the end of another stark warning when Boro captain Boateng said "someone will hurt Ronaldo properly and he will be out for a long time" if he doesn't stop "taking the mickey" out of his opponents.

The latest threat is sure to anger Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who already believes there to be a witch-hunt against his prize asset.

UEFA are also concerned by Stijnen's comments, and an investigation will be undertaken after a complaint was received from the Portuguese Football Federation.

"We have received a complaint from the Portuguese FA and we will start an investigation into the matter," a UEFA spokesman confirmed. "We will be contacting the Belgian FA in due course, but the investigation will not be completed by the time of the match on Saturday."

A spokesman for the Belgian FA said "the matter is over" as far as they were concerned, but they would co-operate fully with UEFA.

"I spoke to the Portuguese FA and sent them a statement from Stijnen along with a copy of the newspapers today [Thursday] in which he denies he said what the paper wrote on Monday," Nicolas Cornu told Reuters.

Cornu said Stijnen said Belgium "must be aggressive from the start" and described the encounter as a "real battle", but never picked out Ronaldo as a target of any abuse.

Sports daily Record quoted on Thursday Portuguese soccer federation president Gilberto Madail as saying: "Nothing moves us against the Belgium soccer federation, with whom we have an excellent relationship, but we believe UEFA should take a formal position in this case. It cannot be forgotten or covered up with denials."

Stijnen will remain available for selection for Saturday's Group A qualifier, Cornu said, adding that they did not fear any backlash against their player in Lisbon.