The first part of Cristiano Ronaldo’s interview aired last night, with the second instalment scheduled for Thursday evening.
There was a lot to take from Ronaldo’s interview but here are a few key standout moments to reflect on:
1. Why Piers Morgan?
The interview perhaps wouldn’t have been so bad if he had chosen an unbiased presenter to do it with, but Morgan’s constant ego-feeding made it difficult to watch, but realistically, that’s why he did it with him. Morgan has made his love for Ronaldo clear on social media over the past years and would have relished the opportunity to make headlines with his provocative, loaded and biased questions. The forward comments reflected his mentality of ‘I like anyone who idolises me’, that’s why he’s so comfortable with having one of England’s most disliked public figures sit in his house.
2. Ego
Ronaldo is one of the best football players to grace the game, there is no arguing that. His honours list speaks for itself and he will forever be remembered as one of the greats, so it’s going to be difficult to stay grounded and humble.
And he hasn’t. Ronaldo is the most followed person on Instagram, and on the matter, he said: “It means a lot. It means people like me. Why am I the number one? Why me? Sometimes I ask myself that. I think being good-looking also helps.”
Funnily enough, it wasn’t the only time he mentioned his looks during the hour. When talking about his broken relationship with Wayne Rooney, he added: “I don’t know why he criticises me so badly, probably because he finished his career and I’m still paying at the highest level. I’m not going to say I’m better-looking than him. Which is true.” – You are 37 years old.
3. Jealousy
Following on from his comments on Wazza, who should feel thankful his status as a club legend remains intact, Ronaldo has identified the unbelievable amount of jealous people in football.
When Morgan asked if Rooney was jealous of him, he responded, “Probably.”
On criticism from the media, he said: “I don’t understand why. Even in the Portuguese press. I don’t understand. Piers I know – I’m 21 years at the top of the game, I know what it takes.”
One significant take was that if you don’t like him or criticise him, for whatever reason at all, you are jealous of Ronaldo.
4. Young players
Finally, his comments on the younger players were exceptionally comical. After more of Morgan’s loaded questions in which he eagerly awaited a response that he could tweet for more publicity, the Portugal international addressed his concerns surrounding youngsters at United.
“I prefer to set an example.” He stated, having faced disciplinary actions numerous times for his behaviour.
“Some ones follow me, not much though.” If younger players followed in his footsteps, the majority of the team would have left the stadium early after refusing to be substituted into a match.
The likes of Ethan Laird, Zidane Iqbal, Shole Shoretire, Hannibal Mejbri, Isak Hansen-Aaroøen and Amad Diallo are hardly going to idolise a senior player who couldn’t be bothered to stay during most of their Old Trafford debuts in the pre-season friendly against Rayo Vallecano.
