Ronaldo ready to fight for place with world's best
Simon Baskett
Real Madrid's 47 million euro ($46.31 million) signing Ronaldo is in no hurry to make his first appearance for his new team and says he is looking forward to fighting it out for a place at "the best club in the world".
"I am going to take my time, make sure I don't rush things and concentrate on enjoying playing again," Ronaldo told reporters on Tuesday during his first official press conference since joining the European champions.
"Real are the biggest and best club in the world, the players have got fantastic technical skill and there will be a lot of competition to play. But that sort of competition is what motivates players."
The Brazilian striker explained that he was suffering from a minor muscle strain in his left leg and that he hoped to begin training next week, but added that he did not expect any repetition of the knee problems that plagued him during his last three seasons at Inter Milan.
"I have got a small muscle strain, but nothing serious," he said. "I hardly did any pre-season training because of the negotiations over the transfer and this sort of thing is not a surprise.
"As for the knee, it is a long time since I talked about it. But it is in very good shape -- I showed that in the World Cup and I will be able to keep showing it. I am the first person to have full confidence in myself."
SPECTACULAR FOOTBALL
The 25-year-old, who played some of his most spectacular football while at Real's arch-rivals Barcelona, said he also believed that his best may be still to come.
"I am very motivated to do well and it is possible I could play even better here than when I was at Barcelona. I enjoyed myself at Barca and now I want to do the same here."
Ronaldo, who made it clear ever since he returned from the World Cup that he wanted to leave Inter Milan, said he did not want to elaborate on his reasons for wanting to leave the Serie A club.
"I had some very strong reasons for leaving, but I am not going to talk about them. I had some good times at Inter, but now I am focused on Real Madrid."
He also said that Real was always his preferred destination after deciding to leave the Italian club, and reiterated his belief that the style of football played in Spain was more likely to suit his game.
"I would not have made the effort to leave if it hadn't been for Real Madrid," said the player who is known in Brazil as "The Phenomenon".
"I don't want to talk badly of the Italian style, but here the game is more open, there are more goals and I really think I can enjoy myself."
The Brazilian international, who finally joined Real after they clinched the cliff-hanger transfer deal minutes before the European transfer deadline at midnight on Saturday, had more words of praise for Real Madrid president Florentino Perez who masterminded the move.
"The president is the real 'phenomenon'," he said with a smile. "What he has done for Real is really historic, but now it is we the players that have the responsibility to perform."
