Madrid - Arab Today
Cristiano Ronaldo has done little to dismiss suggestions he treasures individual glory over collective success by claiming his dream goal would be to dribble past all 11 opposing players before scoring.
The Real Madrid star caused controversy at the weekend when he claimed the Spanish giants - who lie third in La Liga - would be top if the rest of his teammates matched his level. And he described his dream strike as something out of a video game rather than the goal that delivers a title.
"I have already scored a lot of very good goals," Ronaldo, who is Madrid's all-time leading scorer with 348 in 334 appearances, said on Thursday. "The dream goal would be to dribble past the 11 players and score a goal. It is a PlayStation goal which I think is almost impossible, but we will see."
Despite scoring 35 times in just 34 games this season, Ronaldo has been criticised for not producing in the big games as Madrid have slipped nine points adrift of La Liga leaders Barcelona, having also played a game more. However, he insisted he is still matching the same standards as those which have seen him crowned the World Player of the Year three times in the past decade.
"Talent doesn't mean anything if you don't work hard and dedicate yourself day in, day out," added the Portuguese. "That is what I try to do, not just this year but in the past 10 years. I think that my level is almost always the same and my plans for the future are to continue like this at Real Madrid winning things collectively and individually to leave the supporters and my fans happy."
Madrid have endured a terrible season on and off the field as they were also eliminated from the Copa del Rey for fielding an eligible player, whilst Rafael Benitez was sacked as coach after just seven months in charge in January. However, they are well-placed to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League after 2-0 win at Roma in the first-leg of their last-16 tie.
And Ronaldo believes under new boss Zinedine Zidane, Real still have what it takes to deliver an 11th European Cup. "We are having a difficult season in the league and in the Cup we were eliminated. "We are still in the Champions League. It is a competition we aspire to win and it is not a coincidence that Real Madrid is the team that have won the most European Cups.
"Nothing is lost and we are going to continue working to achieve great things at the end of the season."
SourcE: AFP