Cristiano Ronaldo

Portuguese Perfection

You’re currently the best footballer on the planet. Does it annoy you that your personal life comes under so much media scrutiny?

Many people have images of footballers as people who like to go out all the time, spend their money lavishly and date many women. It’s hard to escape this idea but dealing with the pressures of being a famous footballer and the publicity it attracts can be very difficult. Footballers’ lifestyles are always under scrutiny but the image and publicity about wealth, glitz and good times often fail to tell the true story.

Do you prefer to go for girls who are already famous?

I come under intense media scrutiny so I am very private about the girls I date. I am a gentleman, and I do not want them to experience the media pressure, which I have learned to ignore. For me, a girl does not need to be famous for me to like her. I do have my romantic moments but I am sensible. It is company that is important for me.

Do you believe it’s your job to be a role model to the younger generation?

Sometimes it is a very lonely world and we don’t feel safe in any place. Yet our status and our salaries mean we rarely win the public’s sympathy. But I do believe I am a good role model.

Along with Shevchenko, you are the highest paid player in the Premiership – are you a big spender?

I’m not a big spender. I have one car, a Bentley GT convertible, and I like designer clothes, but I do not have wardrobes full. I have a good watch, a diamond bracelet and some rings but a lot of my money is invested in property for the future.

With Euro 2008 coming up, we’ve got to ask you about the last big tournament – specifically, why did you get Wayne Rooney sent off in the World Cup?

It was not very pleasant but it did me some good. With this I grew wiser and it helped me to mature. I insist that Rooney is a good friend by whose side it is a pleasure and an honour to play, and he and I exchanged text messages just after that game with England, as well as the next day.

How did it feel being slated by the British public when you got back?

I feel privileged the British people have taken me to their hearts. The best thing about Britain is the people is that they are fair. When you do well, they say so, when not so well, they say so.

Did even you feel added pressure at Manchester United when you were handed the number 7 shirt?

David Beckham is one of the club’s greatest ever players and it was a huge honour to be handed the shirt. I just hope to carry on doing it justice for the manager and the fans. To be talked about like Becks and George Best would be amazing, but then why not if I carry on what I am doing?

The Real Madrid coach said you’ve now overtaken Kaka as the best player in the world. What’s your secret?

I must always step on to the pitch with my right foot first when playing a match.

We’ll have to try that. Have we seen the best of you or can you get even better?

I hope not. You can never just relax and think that you have reached your best. You have to keep training hard, improving, learning new things. I am lucky to have great teammates around me and a manager I can learn from – he is the best coach in the world.

Who are your top three players ever to have lived?

Luis Figo, Thierry Henry and Maradona.

And who is your favourite sportsman outside football?

I would love to meet Mike Tyson.

You’ve been in Manchester nearly three years now. Do you like living there?

Yeah, it’s great. Sometimes you can get recognised too much when you go out but I suppose that’s part of the job.

Can you give us an example?

At a hen night, the bride-to-be came to our table to ask for a kiss and a photograph. I agreed — but then another girl came and had drinks glasses in her hands. She only went away when security came to get her.

Any other ambitions outside football?

It is to build a hotel and resort in Madeira, where people could spend beautiful, pleasant and peaceful moments, the kind I enjoy. It would be called CR7, after all, this is the number of my life.

Finally, tell us a secret about Christiano Ronaldo?

Every year I dress up as Santa Claus, in full costume – it is a family tradition – and bring the gifts to the children.