Cristiano Ronaldo Says Winning Champions League Would Be ‘Icing On The Cake’
Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo says that winning a 10th UEFA Champions League would be the “icing on the cake” in an otherwise brilliant year for him.
Ronaldo’s team, Real Madrid, is the winningest club in the history of the tournament, with nine victories and three second place finishes.
In second place is AC Milan with seven victories to its illustrious name.
Everyone on the “Blancos” team is expecting and hoping to obtain that 10th victory and even though they have nine wins to their name, the last time Real Madrid took a Champions League title was over 10 years ago in 2002.
Cristiano Ronaldo is not the only Real Madrid player to wish for the championship, several other stars have stated so on the club’s website including Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Florentino Pérez, as well as coach Carlo Ancelotti.
For Ronaldo, who grew into the player he is today coming through the ranks of Sporting Lisbon, to get to the final of the Champions League would mean to play at the Stadium of Light, home of his youth team’s arch-rival, Benfica.
In the interview Cristiano Ronaldo said:
“Winning the Champions League at the Estádio da Luz would be the icing on the cake. Everyone at Real Madrid wants to win the ‘Décima’ and it is providing us all with a lot of motivation. We’re going to do all we can to try and win it in 2014.”
The Portuguese captain also talked about Portugal’s World Cup qualifier saying, “We never thought that we wouldn’t make it to the Brazil World Cup”.
Moving on to his much talked about run for the Ballon d’Or title, Cristiano Ronaldo said he was honored that Diego Maradona, thought he “deserves the prize.”
“It’s an honour that Maradona would say that.” Ronaldo said.
It is almost unanimously agreed that Cristiano Ronaldo should win the title of the best player of the year, since his nemesis and one of the greatest players of all time, Lionel Messi, has been out of contention with an injury this season.
Many believe this is the year when Cristiano Ronaldo should take the elusive trophy that Messi has won four years in a row.
But Maradona is not the only one who believes the Portuguese star should win the Ballon d’Or this time around, coach Ancelotti also things it is well deserved.
“Yes, he’s playing very well.” Carlo Ancelotti said when asked if Cristiano Ronaldo should win the Ballon d’Or, which will be awarded by FIFA at a gala in Zurich on January 13, 2014.
