September 18 – Cristiano Ronaldo says he deserves to finish up with more world player of the year awards than Lionel Messi and that although he respects his Argentine arch-rival, they cannot be considered friends.
Ronaldo and Messi have both won five Ballon d’Or trophies but Juventus’ Portuguese star, now 34, says he is hungry for more in order to be crowned the greatest footballer of all time.
“Messi’s in the history of football,” Ronaldo said in a television interview in Britain on Tuesday. “But I think I have to have six or seven or eight to be above him. I’d love it, I think I deserve it.”
“I don’t follow the records, the records follow me. I’m addicted to the success, and I don’t think it’s something bad, I think it’s good.”
Ronaldo says he has an amicable relationship with Messi but no more.
“My relationship with him is, we are not friends, but we have shared this stage for 15 years. I know that he has pushed me to be a better player and I have pushed him to be a better player as well.”
Ronaldo was at one point reduced to tears during the ITV interview after being shown footage of his late father talking of the pride he felt for his son. Ronaldo was just 20 when his father died of liver failure at the age of 52 after battling alcoholism.
Ronaldo had been at Manchester United for a couple of years when his father passed away, missing many of his greatest achievements. “I never saw that video. Unbelievable. I really don’t (sic) know my father 100 per cent. He was a drunk person. I never spoke with him, like a normal conversation. It was hard.”
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