Nani: When I was younger, Ronaldo was different, he made me improve faster

According to the "Goal Network", Nani talked about the scene when he first met Ronaldo at Sporting Lisbon in an interview, and the time when the two of them played for Manchester United, and he also talked about the experience of becoming the captain of the team during his time in the United States.

Nani was 12 years old when he first met Ronaldo, when he was trying out at Sporting Lisbon, where the young Cristiano Ronaldo had become famous. In a youth game, Cristiano Cried on the sidelines as the referee decided not to award him a free-kick and the opponent broke the ball and shot at goal. Ronaldo sat on the pitch and complained to himself, his coach walked over to comfort and inspire him, Ronaldo returned to the court, he received a cross and hit the ball into the net.

Nani recalled in an interview: "Seeing Cristiano that day and his performance made me realize why he was so good. Even at that time, you can see that he is different from other players. Everybody said he was going to be the best player he could be, so I started looking at him and saying to myself, I need to improve myself. At that age, I knew I was good, but I wasn't at the level of Cristiano Ronaldo, so I started focusing on the best players like him. I started putting more pressure on myself, and a month later, I found myself improving so fast. ”

Speaking about his time at Manchester United with Cristiano Ronaldo and Brazilian midfielder Anderson, Nani said: "It was great for us, we are three young players who love to play every day and everything we can enjoy at home: swimming, table tennis, tennis, it makes us better every day, it's perfect! When you have players like Cristiano Ronaldo in your team, you're not afraid of anything or any team. I think it's the best feeling when playing with him, you're always ready and confident of winning games and he gives us that feeling every season. ”

Speaking about his backflip celebrations, Nani said: "There are some rumours in the club that this is a problem, but I never stopped, the manager never approached me and said anything about it to me. One game I scored a goal, but because of my foot pain, I couldn't do a backflip. When I'm better, I'm doing it again. ”

Nani is now playing for Major League Soccer as Captain Orlando City, where he has played in 16 league games this season, scoring nine goals and six assists. He said: "I think it's been a great year for me and my team, the team has gotten stronger, we've done well against the big league teams and achieved good results. Especially for me, this season is my best season here and I feel very confident. ”

"Having experienced different challenges at different clubs over the years, taking a little bit from every experience in my career and then putting them together, that's what helped me lead the team. The club and all my team-mates respected me and I felt like home. The responsibility given by the team is good for me and it gives me the motivation I need every day to keep working hard, improving myself and making sure I can help the players around me keep improving. ”

(Zhen Shiming)