Ronaldo: Still love football, but...

By Football Italia staff

Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo admits that while “I still love football”, he has “started to enjoy” life outside of the beautiful game.

Ronaldo remains as competitive as ever on the pitch at 34, but he has also been busy building a business empire off it.

“I’m not a crazy man,” he told SPORTbible.

“I’m not obsessed with training, I’m obsessed with success, which is completely different.

“I still love football. I love to entertain the fans and the people who love Cristiano. It doesn’t matter the age, it’s all about mentality.

“The last five years I start to enjoy this process of seeing me outside of football, so who knows what will happen in the next year or two?”

The Portuguese was handed a lifetime contract worth $1bn with Nike in 2016, becoming only the third sportsperson after basketball players Michael Jordan and LeBron James to sign such a deal.

“I do not want to imitate anybody. You have to be yourself all the time, but you can always pick up small details and take something from good examples, not only in football but in other sports as well - Formula 1, NBA, golf, UFC, whatever. The best athletes have a similar work ethic.

“Even the CEOs of great companies are always motivated and they have to work hard to achieve good things.

“This is what motivates me. Everyone has pressure - you have pressure to do a good interview with Cristiano - it’s how you deal with pressure that matters.

“You have to trust in yourself. In football, I have more control. I know what I can do. In business, it’s more difficult, you depend on other people, but I have a good team. It will be a challenge.

“It has taken many years of hard work, dedication and passion to achieve what I have in football.

“Outside of football I’m not there yet, but I’m a competitive guy and I don’t like to be the number two or number three. I always want to be number one. I will do it, 100 percent.”

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