World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

RISEOFRONALDO 21

PORTUGAL

You’vehada longandhard

season.Canyoumaintain

youroutstandingforminto

theEuropeanChampionship finals?

n,

ho

there

y

ference

way

ntry

payeddifferently,butthat’snot

a personalthing.

WouldyoulikeLuizFelipeScolari

tostayonascoachfortheWorld

Cupqualifyingcampaign?

IfitwereuptomeI wouldbevery

hppyforhimtocarryon with the

job.Ofcourse,it’snot my decision.

Howdo youassess yourcampaign

sofar – winningtheChampions

LeagueandwiththeEuropean

Championship finals to come?

I ouldsayalreadythatthishasbeen

te best seasonofmycareer, butthat

hs notbeena matter of goodluck.

I’e workedhard to improvetechnically

aa playerandphysicallyasanathlete.

Te reward,formyself,mycountry

ad my clubcanbecountedin

te goalsI havescored.

Doyou still

encounterany

backlashfrom

thequarter-final

against England

atthelast

World Cup?

That’snow a

longway in the

past.Football

moves on.A

greatdealhas

happenedsince

then.Havingsaid

that, thereaction

fromsomepeople

justservedasa

motivationforme

todoevenbetter

thanbefore.Ihave

noregrets,ifthat

iswhatyoumean.

Andyou’rehappynow

atManchesterUnited?

Ofcourse.Everyonemust know

thatbynow.

Howdo youcopewithbeing

perpetuallyunderscrutiny

bytheEnglish media, in

particularthetabloids?

I’vebecomeaccustomedtothe

storiesthatgetmadeupabout

me.It’snot an issue.

Suddenly,itseems,youhave

emerged as afree-kickspecialist

toearn comparisonswithyour

predecessoratUnited,David

Beckham.Whatisyoursecret?

There is no secret.Likemost

thingsinmycareerit’salla matter

ofcommitment,dedicationandhard

workintraining.Also,of course,when

thesethingsworkoutfor youthen

thatgivesyoumoreconfidence.It’s

a self-fulfillingaspectoffootball.

IfPortugalwin in Viennaon

June 29 itwillbetheir first

majorseniortitle.Canyoudoit?

Wehaveeverychance.Wewillwork

toachievejustthat,thebest

possibleoutcome.Thereis

nopointgoingotherwise.

Interviewby Jose

ManuelDelgado/ESM

It’s not an issue”

WHATCAMENEXT?

Despite scoringeightgoalsinqualification,

Ronaldomanagedtonetjustonceinthe

tournamentitself,hittingthesecondgoal

intheir3-1group-stagewinagainst the

CzechRepublic.Portugalwereeliminated

inthe quarter-finals aftera 3 –2defeatto

eventualfinalistsGermany,andLuizFelipe

Scolari wassubsequentlyreplaced

ascoachbyCarlosQueiroz.

e 2008 EuropeanChampionship

er atdownwithCristianoRonaldo

e by the medi.

e accustomed to

that etmadeu