BREAKING: Cristiano Ronaldo Wins FIFA Special Award
Cristiano Ronaldo has won a special award from FIFA after being snubbed for the player of year shortlist.
The Manchester United superstar became the men’s all-time top goalscorer in September when he scored twice for Portugal against the Republic of Ireland.
Ronaldo now has 115 goals in 184 appearances for his nation, helping them win Euro 2016.
Upon accepting the awarded, the 36-year-old said: “First of all I have to say thank you to my teammates, especially the national team.
“During the last 20 years, I never thought that record, to score 115, the record was 109, right? So, six games ahead, I’m so proud for this special award from FIFA, an organisation I respect a lot.
“Of course, I have to say thank you to my family, my wife, my kids – and soon I will be a father again, so really proud. It’s a great achievement.”
“I still have the passion for the game. Not just to score goals, but to entertain myself because I played football since I was five or five or six years old.
“When I get on the pitch, even in training, I still enjoy it. My motivation is still there, even though I’m gonna be 37 soon.
“I feel good, I feel motivated. I’ve kept working hard since I was 18 years old and I continue. I love the game, I still have that passion and I want to continue.
“People ask me sometimes how many more years I’m going to play and I say, ‘I hope to play four or five more years’.
“It’s all about mentally, because I thought if you treat your body good, when you’re gonna need your body, it will give it back.”
Ronaldo has missed United’s last two matches through injury, having challenged his teammates to improve their mentality in the second half of the season.
“We are capable to change things now. I don’t know the specific way I’m a player, not the coach, the president, I know the way but I’m not going to mention it here because I think it’s not ethic [sic] from my part to say that,” the five-time Ballon d’Or winner told Sky Sports.
“What I can say and something I can say we are in control, we can do it better, all of us. Manchester belongs in important things, we have to change that.
“I don’t want to be here in a club to fight to be in sixth or seventh or fifth place, I’m here to try to win, to compete. I think we compete but we are not yet at our best level.
“[There is a] long way to improve and I believe if we change our mind, we can achieve big things.”
(SOURCE: Mirror UK)
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