World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

RISEOFRONALDO 55

REALMADRID

Lastseason youscored

32 goalsin La Liga,you

wontheESMGolden

Shoeandalsoscored 17 goals

inthe ChampionsLeague–

somethingthatnobody has

everdonebefore.Howdo you

feelaboutwinning this award?

sa e reslt

rgtsasa

e haa fantastic

pinsLeague,

e European

iv trohyis

r as team

oig tlie,

h trohy.

You’ve twicebeennamedbest

player in theworldandwonthe

Ballond’Or awardthreetimes.

Whatisleftfor youtoachieve?

. not changed
t is stillthe
to bethebest.

You seemtobea verycontented

manrightnow...

, anGod,

ig. Ilcknothing.

y miliswell,

, sitwouldbe

I d. y football

a I felgood.

Didyouplaythe ChampionsLeague

finalinLisbonandtheWorldCup

witha kneeinjury?

iI hastopped,

. It wanoteasy
, whn things
. ButI didnot
insLeague
up. I wasnot
I foredmyself
lvel.Wewon
I scredagoal
c a(atenth
s watweall
h Potugal
ecause

thingsdidnotgoquiteright,

butitcannotalwaysgo well.

Whathurtsmore:theknee,or the

headforallthethingsthathave

beensaid about theknee?

Theheadalwayshurts more.

Lastyeardoctorsadvisedyou

torest.Wastherea pointwhen

youriskedmorethanyou should,

thatyoucouldhavejeopardised

yourcareer?

Obviously, yes.Inlife youdon’t

winwithoutmakingsacrificesand

sometimesyou have to takerisks.

Perhaps in othercircumstancesI would

havebehaved differently, butwewere

involvedinmajorcompetitionssoitwas

moredifficult. Thingswentwell,I beat

therecordforgoalsintheChampions

League.Onvacation I restedforone

monthanddid nothingotherthan

treatmentandcareformybody.

SometimesI take my bodyto thelimit,

butall competitiveathletesare the

same.I feelbetternow,though.In

pre-seasonyouhaveupsanddowns.

Whenyou tourwithRealMadrid,you

suffer travelfatigueand jetlag.

Everyonesayswinningladecima

haseasedthepressure,butnow

comesthepressureof winning

itfor an11thtime...

EverybodywhoplaysforRealMadrid

knowsthepressure at thisclub.Itisnot

onlywithinthe club,butalsooutside,

fromthefans,thepress.And it’s natural,

becausewearetalkingaboutthebest

clubinthe world.Yes,I thinkthatthe

pressure ofladecimawashuge.A club

ofoursizebelieves we canwinitevery

year, butI thinkthisyearwewillbe

calmerpsychologically. Idonot

thinkitwill be thesame.

Wouldyousay 2014 hasbeenthe

bestyearofyourcareersofar?

Maybebecauseofallthecollectiveand

individualsuccesses,butI’ve been at the

samelevelforthe last sixorsevenyears.

Thesmalldifferenceiswewontitles,

butpersonallynothinghaschanged.

CarloAncelottisaysMadridhave

a betterteamthanlastyear...

Wewill only know at theendof

theseason.You canbuythe 40

bestplayersintheworldandstill not

makeagreatteam.I’mnotsayingthe

playerswehaveboughtare notvery

goodplayers;theyareplayerswhowant

tohelpRealMadrid.But youhaveto

dothe mathsattheendoftheseason.

Seewhatwehavewonthen.I am

convincedthingswill go wellforthem

individually andforus as ateam.

Isthe relationship betweenthe

playersandAncelottiasidyllic

asitseems from theoutside?

Itisperfect.Thecoachisdoinga

phenomenaljob.He’sanextraordinary

person,a greatcoachand we are

veryhappy to havehim.

Areyousick of theconstant

comparisonswithLionelMessior

haveyoulearned to livewithit?

Itispartof my life.Itisnormalthat

peoplecompareus.It’slike in Formula1,

thecomparisonsbetweenFerrariand

Mercedes.I’musedtoit,notonly

after alltheseyearsinMadrid,but

inManchesterit wasthesame,

soI knowhowtolivewithit.

It’softensaidthatyouandMessi

havea badpersonalrelationship...

Notat all. We’recompaneros(partners),

workcolleagues.Obviously, outsideof

footballI haveno relationshipwithhim

orwith otherplayers.Hetriestodothe

bestforhis clubandhiscountry, and

I trytodothesameformine.Inthat

sense,it’ssafetosay a certainrivalry

exists. Butwemust facethis

rivalry in apositive spirit

becauseitisa goodthing.

Interviewby Miguel

SerranoCejas(Marca/ESM)

I want to be the best”

o UEFA’sBestPlayerinEuropeaward on hispast,

n futureinWorld Soccer’sOctober 2 01 4 issue

ot chan edoverthe years.

houghtisstill thesame: