Ronaldo admits he loves to be hate figure

Published on Sunday 14 June 2009 23:04

RONALDO is ready for his proposed £80million move to Real Madrid to make him an object of hate – and feels he will thrive under the insults.

The Portugal winger is set to seal his switch to the Spanish giants by the end of June after Manchester United accepted a world record bid.

And the 24-year-old wants to "re-write the history of football" when he lines up alongside the likes of fellow Madrid new boy and prospective team-mate Kaka.

He said in an interview with French magazine So Foot: "I love it when people jeer me. I love to see the hate in their eyes, to hear the insults. It doesn't bother me.

"It's true lots of people hate me but there are even more who love me and who support me. I feel bad only when I play badly. Fortunately, that happens rarely."

He added: "I still have a long way to go. I really want to re-write the history of football. I am aware I'm already among the best of the best but I want to continue to write many more beautiful pages."

Ronaldo was eclipsed by Barcelona's Lionel Messi in last month's Champions League final in Rome, the Argentine scoring the Catalans' second with a fine header of which Ronaldo himself would have been proud.

The pair's rivalry will intensify in the Primera Division next season should Ronaldo's move go through, with Madrid and Barca bitter rivals, but the Portuguese is not interested in comparing himself to Messi.

He said: "I have nothing to envy Lionel for. I don't compare myself to others. I am Cristiano Ronaldo – and I can win more medals than anybody else. I don't like to relax. The fans want to see a great Cristiano Ronaldo so I try to never disappoint."

United's acceptance of Madrid's offer earlier this week brought an end to one of the longest-running transfer sagas of recent years. And Sir Alex Ferguson believes the Barclays Premier League champions did well to keep Ronaldo at Old Trafford for as long as they did. "He wanted to leave, it's as simple as that," said Ferguson. "He was going to go some time. We've done well to keep him for so long."

Ronaldo's desire to leave has provoked anger among sections of United fans, who feel the club helped him become the player he is after signing him from Sporting Lisbon six years ago.

But former United assistant manager Carlos Queiroz, a former Real Madrid manager who also knows Ronaldo from his current post as Portugal coach, believes his loyalty cannot be questioned.

"When you talk about loyalty, you must understand the loyalty has two directions," Queiroz, who enjoyed two spells as Sir Alex Ferguson's No 2, told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme.

"In terms of the modern game, loyalty is to be a great professional, to be committed to the club, to be engaged with the coach and the vision of the club and nobody can put one thing against Cristiano because as a professional he's brilliant.

"But as you know with 95 per cent or 96 per cent of movement in football it is the managers at the clubs that dictate the movements."

A former Madrid great has warned the winger, though, that he will have to come to terms with being just another player at the Bernabeu.

Zinedine Zidane moved from Juventus to Madrid for a then world record fee in 2001. He said: "Despite the vast amount of money available in his transfer to Real Madrid, Ronaldo will have to come to terms with being just another star at the club.

"With the arrival of Brazilian Kaka and more expected to follow under returning president Florentino Perez, he cannot expect to take centre stage at a club like Real Madrid.

"Besides, while the supporters love to embrace superstar players, collective success is far more important to them than that of any individual."

Meanwhile Zidane, now an advisor to Real Madrid president Perez, has spoken to France midfielder Franck Ribery to try and convince him to move to the Spanish capital from Bayern Munich.

"I am in talks with Franck," the three-time World Player of the Year, who wore the Real shirt from 2001 to 2006, told French newspaper Le Dauphine Libere. "He is a fantastic player who has his place at Real. And playing in this team is a career opportunity, which, to me, you do not refuse.

"It would be a nice opportunity for Franck. It is up to him."

Brazil playmaker Kaka has already joined from AC Milan for a reported fee of 67 million, while Ribery is likely to cost around the same amount, if reported bids for the 26-year-old are anything to go by.

"Bringing together the best players in the world has a cost," said Zidane.

While Ronaldo was happy to talk up his prospective transfer, Kaka is determined to keep his impending move on the back burner while he focuses on the Confederations Cup as part of the squad of Brazil, who are defending champions. The midfielder said he will not talk about the move to the Bernabeu until the end of Fifa's 'festival of champions' in South Africa.

"I've already talked everything I wanted to talk about this subject," Kaka said yesterday. "From now on I only want to talk about the Confederations Cup."

Kaka said that he was thankful to AC Milan and to the Italian fans who supported him during his time in Italy.

"The only reason I'm recognised as an international player is because of Milan," Kaka said. "I hope Milan can keep doing well."

The 27-year-old hopes his move to Madrid will help him regain the title of World Player of the Year, which he won in 2007.

"It's a great motivation for me, these individual prizes are really a motivation," Kaka said. "But I know that every time I won one of these prizes was after my team had won an important competition. If my team hadn't done it, I wouldn't be recognised either. So first I need to think of the group."

Kaka won the Champions League with Milan and the Copa America with Brazil in 2007.