Portugal 1-1 Ecuador | Ronaldo 23’
”What a great day! Nice to celebrate my birthday with the portuguese National Team.”
The boots Cristiano Ronaldo will sport in Sunday’s match
The numbers are an homage to his 2011/2012 season:
- 1 - 1st La Liga title
- 9 - goals scored for Portugal
- 14 - international caps
- 19 - 1st player to score against all 19 teams in La Liga in a season
- 27 - age in 2012
- 55 - matches played in all club competitions
- 60 - club goals scored in all competitions
Part I of Cristiano Ronaldo’s FPF Interview | video - “I cannot live just for individual awards, it would not be right, the career of a player is not defined by individual trophies, but by the trophies won by his team.”
Ballon d’Or
Whatever they decide, this will be it… Maybe I’ll be happy, maybe sad, but this is the way life goes. I cannot live just awaiting that one trophy. Your career is not marked by your individual trophies, but by the collective ones, which are the most important. If I win, perfect, if I don’t win, patience, life goes on, I will be same person. Of course, I would like to win, I am not going to lie or be a hypocrite. But I cannot live this like some kind of war… I will continue to be happy, do what I do best, which is play football and continue give my best.
Portugal NT
The most important thing for me is to win something for my country, for the NT. Individual records tend to be a bit relative… If everything goes as expected, I will break the individual records. I still have a lot of years left with the NT. And even if I don’t there won’t be a problem. Because the important thing is to win something. The individual records are relatives, important, yes, but not as much as collective ones.
I know that it is difficult. We have been close a few times, the last time we had an important tournament we lost in penalties against Spain. To win a big torunament you also need a bit of luck. This is not supposed to be a justification, but I think all titles are won with a bit of luck, which we have been lacking in the last years.
We know that the margin for mistakes is increasingly small. We cannot afford to lose more points… The Portuguese NT has been having problems in the qualification rounds for the last 10 years. It is nothing new, but we are convinced that the next year will be better.
On what made the team strong
Union, group spirit between all team members, staff etc. This is the reason for our success. And after what we did in the EURO we have to concentrate on reaching that point again.
On his first game for the NT
Against Kazachstan, I was very nervous, I was on the bench, always hoping that I could make my debut. And Scolari sent me to warm up, and after some time I entered the pitch, and it was one of the best moments with the NT
It is an honour, a privilege to be called up for the NT. I reached 100 international games, and for me that was something very special. To reach that mark with only 27 years. To play for my country is something that fascinates me. I hope to play for a long time still and give my best as a person and as a player to help Portugal.
The support from the Portuguese people, the fans, is fundamental, because we feel it on the pitch and outside the pitch. And this is what reflects in the stadium. It makes us feel this energy, that everyone is on our side and aiming for the same objective. It gives us an extra push
One thing is to play for a club, and the other thing is to play for your NT. I think there are completely different feelings involved. The passion for the game, to win, is the same. But it is more emotional/sentimental to play for your country, for your family, your sons, your cousins, aunts and uncles…
[talking about the Presidents of the FPF…]
Other sports
When I have time I like to follow other sports as well. Futsal is one of those that ispretty similar to football. The last game of Futsal I watched was against Italy. We were up 3-0 and then they equalised and in the end they scored in extra time… But I really like it. I think Portugal has great potential, great players, and, like I said, only a bit of luck is missing.
I like to watch other sports and see the Portuguese win, it makes me proud. I am Portuguese and what I want is to see Portugal win, in Futsal, Volleyball, Judo or Athletics…
Part II tomorrow
(tried to translate the most important parts… I am not Portuguese, though, so if I made any mistakes, let me know!)
The results will be streamed live on FIFA.com and YouTube on January 7th.
Coach of the Year: José Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Vicente del Bosque
Player of the Year (Ballon d’Or): Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta
He is one of 16 athletes named. The six finalists will be announced on December 13th, and the award will be handed out on March 11th in Rio de Janeiro. [click here for more info about the Laureus World Sports Awards]
Cristiano’s Full CNN Interview - YouTube
Cristiano, Pepe, Bruno Alves and Paulo Bento representing the Portuguese NT in a visit to children suffering from cancer at the Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto
Good to see how they manage to make those kids smile at least for a little while.
Fábio left tonight’s match early with a groin injury. Portugal’s team doctor confirmed that Coentrão will not be fit for Tuesday’s game against Northern Ireland. No timetable for his return has been established at this point, but further medical examinations will be conducted Saturday.
