WITH Emmanuel Eboue still smarting from being booed by his own supporters in his most recent domestic outing, Julio Arca has told the Arsenal defender: “Just be thankful you don’t play in Argentina.”

Eboue left the Emirates Stadium distraught last weekend after a significant section of Arsenal supporters turned on him during the latter stages of the Gunners’ 1- 0 win over Wigan.

Arsene Wenger voiced his concern at the unsympathetic treatment meted out to the Ivory Coast international, but as he prepares to make Eboue’s life even more miserable in this afternoon’s Premier League clash at the Riverside, Arca has insisted last weekend’s scenes were nothing special.

“It’s not right to single out one player, and I wouldn’t be happy if it was me,” said the Middlesbrough midfielder.

“But I come from Argentina and it’s probably even worse there. You have fans waiting outside the ground and you have to get police (to protect you) when you get beaten.

What happened to Eboue is not good, but I’ve been in much worse positions.”

In particular, Arca remembers the outcry that accompanied his debut as a freshfaced 17-year-old in the Argentinian top-flight.

The versatile midfielder turned out for Argentinos Juniors, but was unable to prevent his side slipping to a humiliating 7-1 defeat at Independiente. The final whistle signalled the start of a dejected trudge to the changing room, but with a baying mob gathering at the gate, the trouble was only beginning.

“The fans were absolutely mad,” remembered Arca.

“We had to stay in the changing room for two-and-a-half hours after the game because they just wouldn’t leave. They were waiting for us outside the ground.

“I was scared. I was 17 and I thought the fans were going to get me. There were a few hundred of them waiting outside and nothing would make them move. I thought, ‘I’m going to be sleeping here in the changing rooms tonight because there’s no way I’m getting out of here’. You wonder what’s going to happen.

“We knew the police would take them away eventually, but you didn’t know what might happen first.”

Middlesbrough supporters appear to be developing their own boo-boy, with Afonso Alves having come in for sustained criticism following a run of six matches without a goal.

Boro’s record signing hardly had a kick at Hull last weekend, but Arca expects him to come good in the nottoo- distant future.

“We know how good he is,”

he said. “He’s trying hard, but sometimes the harder you try, the less you get. He just has to be patient.

“I’m sure he feels under pressure, because people will say, ‘He’s not scoring and he cost £12m’. But he has to forget about that. It was a lot of money but he can’t do anything about what’s happened.

“If he scores a hat-trick on Saturday, everyone will forget the price tag.

“Strikers can sometimes touch the ball once in 90 minutes, but if they score that’s all they need to do. We all still believe the goals will come for him.”