ItseemsPortugal andUnited
havemissed you.Isthattrue?
I don’tthinkso.Somepeoplehave
beensayingthatManchesterand
Portugallosebecausetheydon’thave
Cristianobutlastseasonwestarted
badlyinthePremierLeagueandI
played.I wantedtocomebackquicklyto
helpmyteam-mates,tohelpmyteam.
I lovetoplayfootballandwhenI’mnot
playingI feel very,verybad.Footballis
likethatsometimes:youwinsometimes
andyoulosesometimes. This is life,you
learnfromthat.I believewecanwin
theChampionsLeagueandtheleague
againbecausewehavea greatteam
andgreatplayers.Portugalisalso
thesame.I wanttocomebackfor
thePortugalnationalteambutI think
thequalifyingcampaignislongandwe
havetheopportunitytodoa greatjob.Portugalhashadmanygreat
playerssinceEusebio–suchas
Fernando Gomesand Luis Figo –
butnobodyhasemulatedhim.
Areyoupreparedfor a time
whenyoumightbeconsidered
Portugal’s greatest player?
Ofcourseit’simportanttorepresent
mycountrywellbutI don’tneedtobe
comparedwithanyotherplayers.It’s
amazingtobecomparedwiththese
greatplayersyoumentionedbutI want- PortugalbecauseIamalready part of
i
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o
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Portuguesefootball.I wantmore. My
ambitionistowinmorethingsandstay
partof historyafter I havestopped
playing.IfI cankeepgoinglikethat,
thingswillkeepcomingnaturally.You left Madeiraat quitean
earlyage.Wasit hard foryou
toleavehome so young?
I leftmy familyattheageof 11 or 12
yearsold.Thatwasa verydifficulttime
forme.Now,nothingisa problemfor
me.WhenI movedtoManchesterat 1 8
I didn’tspeakthelanguagebutit was
noproblembecauseI hadexperience
[inLisbon]sowhenI arrivedthereit was
notsodifficultfor me.Myadaptation
wasnoteasybutitwas a good
adaptation.It’salwaysdifficultwhen
you’reyoungandyouhavemanythings
tolearnandI amalwayswantingto
learn.ThisiswhyI liketolearn.I don’t
knoweverythingaboutfootballor
aboutmymentality. I wanttolearn
allthetime.LastseasonI hada
greatseason,thisseasonI will
trytodobetterif it’s possible.How longdidittakeforyouto
settle in Manchester?Haveyou
nowreacheda pointwhereyou
arecomfortablethere?
I feelhappy inManchester.Mychallenge
isalwaystodobetterthanI didthe
.’ ,
I liketheleague, Iliketheclub,but
sometimes youwantdierent
thingsinlife. Youwantnew
challenges. Idon’t say
I want anewchallenge
thisseason, butit’salwas
goodfor your mind,fo
yourcareer, tohave
other things todoand
other things towin. Ths
iswhatI trytodo. If Isay
inManchester, Itry to
dothesame,I tryto
winthetrophiesagain.Whatwasyourdreamwhen
youwerea child?
WhenI startedinMadeira,
mymissionwasalwaystobea
professionalfootballerbutInever
dreamedI wouldbeatManchester
Unitedat 18 yearsold.Itwas amazing
forme.But my ambitionis alwaysto
playwell.I rememberwhenI wasyoung
theopportunitiescamealongandI took
them.I movedtoNacionalandI played
a fewyearsthere–twoyears–and
thenI wenttoSportingandthe
opportunitieskeptcoming.Andwhen
I arrivedinManchestereverything
happenedveryquickly.Yourlife haschangedincredibly
overthepast tenyears.How
doyou cope?
Well,it’s beenchangefor thegood.
Whenyouchangeina badway it’s more
difficult.Myhouseisbetter thanten
yearsago,butthisdoesn’t changemy
character, my mentality, my ambitions.
I’mstillthesame,whetherI’vegotone
millioninthebankornothing.My
personalityisstillthesame:it’stoplay
football, toenjoymylife.Thisiswhat I
trytodoall thetime,toenjoylife.Not
becauseI havemoremoneythanI did
tenyearsago. I don’tchangeanything.Whatdoyouthinkyouwould
havedoneifyou hadnotbecome
a footballer?Didyou have a
“PlanB”asa child?
That’sa very difficultquestion.My
ambition,myfocus,hasalwaysbeen
onfootball.WhenI wasfive,six,seven,
I alwaysaskedmymumfor a football
asa present.Itwas nevera bikeor
computersorGameBoys.I neverasked
foranyofthat. It wasalwaysa football,
justafootball.Somyambitionwas
alwaystobea professionalfootballer.
ThisiswhyI thinkI amlikethat.I don’t
knowwhatI willdointhefuture.My
focus hasalwaysbeenfootball.“IfeelhappyinManchester.Iliketheleague,Iliketheclub,butsometimesyouwantdifferentthingsinlife.Yuwewchege”FAEFAE