World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

RISEOFRONALDO 31

MANCHESTERUNITED

Whatdo youthinkaboutthe
takeoverof ManchesterCity?
It’scrazy!

Unitedare nowthesecond
richest teamin Manchester...
It’sunbelievable.Thesepeoplehave
moneybutsometimesmoneydoesn’t
buyyou therightplayers.You can
never tell whatwillhappenin the
future,butthat’smyopinion.

Haveyou spokento your
team-matesaboutit?
Ofcourse,everyone’stalkingabout
itbecauseit’sa lotofmoney.But it’s
quite a surprisefor everyone.I think
it’snicethata guylikethiscomesalong,
likeAbramovichchangedthingsat
Chelsea.For 50 yearsChelseahadnot
wonanything,thenAbramovicharrived
andtheywon twotitlesstraightaway
withMourinho.Why notManchester
City?It’sgoodfor football.

Unitedwouldnot letyoujoin
RealMadrid in thesummer.But
howwouldyoufeeliftheywere
tosay,becauseof allManchester
City’s money,youcangoand
playforthelocalrivals?
It’snotaboutmoney.Money’s not
themostimportantthing.It’sgood
forManchester City, whonowwantto
changeeverything,theywanttobuy
greatplayers.But youneedtime to do
that. Butit’snicefor football thatit’s
notjust ManchesterUnited,Arsenal,
LiverpoolandChelsea[abletobuytop
players].MaybeManchesterCitycan
competeforthe leagueaswell–
thatwould be goodforfootball.

You saythatmoneyis not
everything.Isthatwhyyou

didnotmovetoMadrid?

SomanyquestionsaboutMadrid!

Well, [I cansay]money wasnot

thereason, 10 0 percent.

Howmuch didManchesterUnited

suffer when CarlosQueiroz left?

Andhowmuch didthePortugal

nationalteamgain?

I hadthe opportunitytoworkwith

Queirozfor fouryearsandfor me

Carlosisamazing.He’san amazing

coach,I lovetoworkwithhim.He

hasnicemethodsoftraining,he’svery

professional.Inmyopinion,wemiss

CarlosinManchesterbutwewinwith

himinthePortugalsquad.Sometimes,

I thinka coachneedstimetodoa good

job,butI look forwardtoworkingwith

him.He’sa greatmananda great,

great, greatcoach.Ifyouhadthe

opportunitytosignCarlostostayfive

yearsinPortugal,you shouldsign

himbecausehe’sfantastic.I’ve had

theopportunitytoworkwithhimfor

a fewyearsandhewasamazing.

DoyouthinkJoseMourinhowillbe

successfulin ItalywithInternazionale?

Why not?Whenyouaregood,youare

goodeverywhere,notjustin Englandor

Portugal.Sometimesyouneedtime

becauseit’sa differentleague,with

differentfootball. Buthe’sgoingtodo

a greatjobbecausehe’sa greatcoach

andhe’sgotgreatplayersaroundhim.

And what aboutRicardo Quaresma,

whohas joined MourinhoatInter?

It’sthe same.Heplayedformanyyears

inPortugal.Now he’s playingina different

leaguewitha differentmentality.I have

towishhimall thebestforthe future.

FellowPortugalinternational

Danny also grewup in Madeira.

Doyou knowhimwell?

I’veknownhimformanyyears.He’s

a greatlad,a greatplayer.Nowhe’s

joinedZenitit’s goodfor him,he’s

startedto getcalledupbyPortugal.

It’sa goodopportunity. He deserved

thatbecausehe’sagoodboy.

Finally, Cristiano,istherea secret

toyourfree-kick technique?How

doyou bend theball?

Mynails[laughs].I don’tknow, I just

practiseallthetime.How

andwhat,I can’ttellyou,it’s

a secret!

InterviewbyGavinHamilton

“It’snotallaboutmoney.Money’s

notthemostimportantthing.

It’sgoodforManchesterCity...

maybetheycancompete

fortheleagueaswell”

BELOWLEFT:

Breathe...Cristiano

prepareshimself

foraset-piece

BELOW:Crowd

pleaser...Ronaldo

celebratingat

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