World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

66 RISEOFRONALDO

Congratulations

onwinningUEFA’s

BestPlayer in Europe

award.Was last year thebest

seasonofyourcareer?

Probably. In termsoftrophies,I cansay

yes.Every year sinceI startedtoplay

footballhasbeenamazing,butthis

yearwasspecial.First of allbecause

wewon,for thefirst timeinthe history

ofPortugal,thatimportantcup.For

RealMadridtowintheChampions

Leagueagain,itwas an amazing year.

I wanttosay thankyouto my team-

mates,thankstoeveryoneinvolvedin

thesuccessofthenationalyear. It’s

beenanamazingyear. I’msohappy.

ButIhavetomentionthesetwoother

amazingplayers[fellownominees

Gareth BaleandAntoineGriezmann]

becausetheyplayedamazingtoo.

Howdoeswinninganinternational

competitioncompareto winning

trophies witha clubside?

Itwas thefirst time,it’salwaysspecial

whenyou winsomethingfor thefirst

time.I’ve wontheChampionsLeague

three timesbutmydream wasalways

towinsomethingforPortugal,with

thenationalteam, andthat’swhat

wedid.Wewonforthe first timeand

thefeelingiscompletelydifferent.

I wasveryemotional.I wasthinking

aboutmyteam-mates,myfamily–

mywholefamily becausewewere

allbornin Portugal.Sothe feeling

wasa little bitcrazy. I crieda lot.

Sadmoments,emotionalmoments,

happymoments;itallhappenedin

thesameday.Soitwas unbelievable

achievement,itwasaspecialday.

Duringthefinalagainst France,

youwereinjured early on butyou

seemedlikean assistant coachto

Fernando Santosonthetouchline...

Don’t joke,that’smyfuture!

But,seriously, haveyouever

thoughtaboutbecominga

coachsomeday?

It’snotsomethingthatI thinka lot

about.Ifyouaskmeright now, I don’t

wanttobea football coach.Aftera

fewyears,peoplemightsay:“Youhave

theprofiletobea coach”,butI don’t

wantto,it’s toocomplicated.Right

nowI justwanttofocusonfootball,

thisismypassion,thisiswhatI love

todo. Butinthe future,nobodyknows,

maybeinfive,six,ten years,I will

changemymindandI willbe an

amazingcoach!Let’s see.

Youwonthemostimportant

trophiesinEuropelastseasonand

nowyouhavewon theBestPlayer

inEuropeaward.How do you

manageto motivate yourself

forthisnew season?

Forme,everyseason is a challenge.

Manypeopleask me howI’m going

tomotivatemyselftowinmorethings

becauseyou’ve woneverythingalready.

Butfootballis my passionandI’mstill

abletomakethefanshappy.People

lovetoseeme,so I trytodomybest,

I trytoscore goals,tohelpmyteamwin

trophies,individuallyandcollectively.

Every yearisa challenge,thisyearwill

bethe sameasthe last tenyears.To

scoregoalsata highlevel,maintainmy

performance, that’swhatI trytodo.

Youhavewonall thesetrophies

buttheWorldCup is stillmissing.

Doyou think Portugalwillbea

strongcontenderforthenext

WorldCupfinals?

Ohcomeon! We’vejustwon the

Europeantitlefor thefirst time

inthe historyofPortugal.The

WorldCup?Ofcourseit’spossible.

Everythinginfootballis possible.

Itwill be toughas we havepressure

nowforthe next WorldCup.I’m

comfortablewithmy team-mates,

ourcountrysupportingus,theyare

smartenough to knowwhatPortugal

cando.Ifyou askmeifit’spossible,

ofcourseit’spossible,butlet’senjoy

themoment.It’sthefirsttimeinthe

historyofPortugalthatwewon the

EuropeanChampionship,soit’s

good.But,asI saymany,many

times,everythinginfootballis

possible,solet’sbepositive.

amazing year”

“It’s been an

TheRealMadridandPortugalstarreflectsonwinning

UEFA’s BestPlayerinEuropeawardin 2016

Winners...Ada

Hegerberg of Lyon

andNorwaywonthe

BestWomen’sPlayer

inEuropeaward

FACETOFACE