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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 14 MAY 2014 Sport 24 WORLD CUP SPECIAL Germany 2006: 'Merci beaucoup, monsieur,' Materazzi tells Zidane IGNACIO NAYA REAL Madrid had just beaten Schalke 3-1 at the Santiago Berna- beu stadium, and the global score of that Champions League tie was a re- sounding 9-2 in their favour. And yet Cristiano Ronaldo's gestures showed that he was not quite satisfied. With a brace, the Portuguese wing- er had just missed a hat-trick, and Ronaldo does not forgive himself for such mistakes. He always wants to be the best. It is an obsession for him. That anecdote is in fact a metaphor for the history of Ronaldo's football career. He is an unsatisfied man, a man who finds being number two just not good enough, a sportsman who only understands his profession in terms of excellence and who con- stantly aspires to a place of honour among football's greatest icons. "Every year, Cristiano has a goal: to surpass himself. We all know what he is like: the world's best profes- sional, the world's best player, and he will indeed be the best player in his- tory, because there will be no other like him." The comment comes from Jorge Mendes, the world's most influential player agent. Ronaldo, the greatest gem in Mendes's star-studded client portfolio, had just won his second Ballon d'Or, and the ecstatic agent walked around the elegant lobby of Zurich's Kongresshaus with the tro- phy in his hands on a cold night in January 2014. Mendes's praise describes Ronal- do's perfectionist personality and his impeccable professionalism, but it also holds a message for the winger's great rival, Barcelona striker Lionel Messi. The Argentine is arguably just the opposite. The style of the small, quiet, winding Messi is radically dif- ferent from Ronaldo's both on and off the pitch. However, they do have one thing in common: their voracity. "Do we make each other better? Perhaps we do, and that is good for football," the Real Madrid star said just a few hours before he received a Ballon d'Or he fought for probably like no one else ever had before him. For four years in succession, Ronal- do saw his greatest rival go up on the stage to get the award as the world's best footballer of the year, which was an ordeal for a personality such as that of the Portugal winger. His tears on stage after getting the 2014 Ballon d'Or off the hands of Brazilian foot- ball legend Pele and hugging his son speak of the obsessive longing that Ronaldo had to get back there. "Those who know me know how hard it has been to get to this mo- ment," he said. It takes an iron will to be able to keep up the battle on the level that Ronaldo fought it, one goal after an- other. "Messi is gifted and Cristiano is a hard worker, that is the difference," Messi's Barcelona team-mate Dani Alves told dpa in an interview. In fact, the Portuguese winger prob- ably would not dislike that descrip- tion. Ronaldo is a talented player, of course, but his main qualities are his perseverance and his love for his job. Anyone who has ever watched him train would confirm that. Never has a coach complained about Ronaldo's commitment. His dedication is always at a maximum. His wish to grow in every aspect of the game is even obsessive, as it was when he decided to train overhead kicks with a view to scoring acrobatic goals. "He is the most gifted player I man- aged," Sir Alex Ferguson said of Ron- aldo in his autobiography. The legendary Scot, who was man- ager at Manchester United 1986- 2013, played a crucial role in the young Portuguese forward's career. At United, the slight winger who came in from Sporting Lisbon be- came not just a lethal striker but also an advertising icon able to generate millions of dollars in income. In 2003, he seemed to be the ideal man to fill the space that David Beck- ham had left in the books of the Pre- miership club's busy Marketing de- partment. However, four years later, Beckham was just a blurred memory compared to the 2008 Ballon d'Or, who was transferred to Real Madrid in 2009 for more than 90 million eu- ros (more than 130 million dollars), the most expensive signing in history at the time. Things were not always that spec- tacular in Ronaldo's life. He was born in Funchal, on the Atlantic island of Madeira, into a poor family. His fa- ther died at the early age of 52, after a life of alcohol abuse. And homesick- ness marked Ronaldo's early days in Lisbon, where he travelled at the age of 12 with his name written on a sign around his neck after standing out at the small club Andorinha. Ronaldo arrived in Madrid in top form, determined to prove that he was the best in the world's most pow- erful club. However, his first few years in Spain clashed with the best Barce- lona in history, and Ronaldo did not take defeat too well. Rivals, referees and even some Real Madrid fans saw him as an arrogant, narcissistic guy more worried about his personal per- formances than about the team. "People boo me because I am good- looking, rich and a great footballer. They are jealous of me," he infa- mously said in September 2011. Ronaldo has never been big on false modesty, but that comment was, in the words of Barcelona centre-back Gerard Pique, "too sincere." Pique may play for Real Madrid's arch-rivals, but he has always said good things about his former Man- chester United team-mate. Like al- most anyone who has ever shared a changing-room with Ronaldo, Pique describes him as a pleasant, nice man. Ronaldo is very conscious of his own image, so he listened to his en- tourage and decided to change his attitude about two years ago. These days, he is much less challenging towards referees whom he used to accuse of not protecting him from unfair tackles, kinder towards rivals who used to think of him as a con- ceited star, and above all closer to his own team-mates. "He looks better to me, calmer, with a better disposition for group tasks. He no longer seems to have the atti- tude, 'This is Cristiano and 10 other guys.' And that helps a lot," retired Argentine coach Cesar Luis Menotti, who won the 1978 World Cup with Argentina, recently told dpa. At age 29, Ronaldo has lost interest in nightclubs. He has sought refuge at his luxury home in La Finca, an exclusive community in the suburbs of Madrid where he lives a family life. His mother, his sisters and his cous- ins frequently visit him. Ronaldo has a son who is almost 4 - not with his current girlfriend, the Russian model Irina Shayk, but with a woman whose identity has not been revealed to the public. The footballer has kept it a secret, as he does when he decides to help people in need away from the limelight. "I am not perfect. I am human and made of flesh and bones like every- one else. I laugh, I cry and I have my problems but people don't always understand me. When I have said something inappropriate, I have apologized. With age, you learn from your mistakes," Ronaldo said in an interview with the magazine France Football. Brazil, which is set to host the most significant World Cup in decades, is now the next chapter in the history of Ronaldo's obsession to be the best. DPA "I apologise to football, to the fans, to the team. After the game, I went into the dressing room and told them: 'Forgive me. This doesn't change anything. But sorry everyone'," Zinedine Zidane confessed years later. Photo by Peter Schols - DPA Marco Materazzi's name will forever be linked to Zinedine Zidane's. The final act in the brilliant Frenchman's career was a violent head-butt against the Italian's chest, in no less than extra time during the final of the Germany 2006 World Cup. Since then, the story of their clash has almost become a legend