Top of the World

In an exclusive interview with ManUtd.com and MUTV, Cristiano Ronaldo speaks of his delight at being named the best player in the world and insists there is much more to come...

Congratulations Cristiano, how does it feel to have won the award and become only the fourth United player ever to do so?
It feels amazing. It’s the award I always dreamt on winning when I was kid and I feel very proud and very happy [to have done that]. I have to say a big thank you to my team-mates and everyone at the club who has helped me win the award – it has such a great history and it is the great players who win it so it’s magnificent to be alongside them. It’s amazing that only four players in the club’s history have won it, I didn’t know that until yesterday. So it’s special for the club and obviously for me and I feel very proud to be part of the history of the Ballon D’Or and the history of this club. You work hard to win team awards and personal awards, but, for me, to win this one is very special.

Where does this rank among your many other personal achievements?
Every award has different history, but this one is one of the best. When I became a professional footballer I always believed I had the chance to win it one day and to do that makes me feel very good. But team awards are very important to me as well. I’m at a great club where I have the opportunity to win team and personal awards and to be remembered as a great player you have to win things with your team, not just individual awards, collective trophies are the most important.

There is already a huge weight of expectation on your shoulders – will winning this award put even more pressure on you?
I always play with pressure because people always expect a lot from me and I don’t think that will change. Winning this award makes me feel very happy inside because it’s one of the best days of my life. But my responsibilities are still the same: I want to continue to play well for my club and my country and try to do as well as last season.

You always say you want to improve. How does a player who’s been voted the best in the world go about doing that?
Of course I can improve – there are many things I still need to learn. You can never let yourself think you know everything. I am still very ambitious and I will continue to work very hard every day. I know it will be very hard to better last season, but I will try – if you don’t try you win nothing. A new season means a new challenge and I want to help the team win more trophies.

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