the interview round-up

Several Madrid players (and one ex-Madrid player) have given interviews recently, so here is a round-up of the most interesting parts:

Cristiano Ronaldo

In an interview with TVE, our favorite Portuguese (sorry Pepe!) tells us that he has never had a football idol, that family is the most important thing there is, that he hopes to stay in Madrid for many years and end his career here, that he likes living in Madrid and that the people and the food are similar to those in Portugal.  He defines himself as a “normal person” and says it would be impossible to do 3,000 sit-ups a month, much less in a day!  Cris also reveals that he loves sweets and eats everything.  And when asked if he likes being Cristiano Ronaldo, he says “me encanta” (I love it).  Read more in Spanish here, in English here, or watch here.

Raúl Albiol

Speaking to FIFA, Raúl says, “As a 14 or 15-year-old I’d look up to Guti, Raul or [Iker] Casillas as I watched them on TV and now they’re my teammates! I’m very happy though, everybody’s welcomed me really warmly and I’ve settled in quickly.”  Of Cristiano Ronaldo, he says he’s “a great teammate and is always joking around. He’s very different to the impression people outside the club have of him.”

Álvaro Arbeloa

From the web site of Guillem Balague comes this interview with Arbeloa, where he reveals that Real Madrid teaches all their footballers that Madrid is a “gentlemanly club.”  Of course, he is asked about Cristiano Ronaldo, and he says “Cristiano has earned the respect of everyone in the team for his work ethic and mentality; above all because he is a person who creates a really good atmosphere and we`ve all got a really great vibe with him, and he jokes around a fair bit… Everyone gives him stick if he is on the losing side in a training game because he hates losing, he gets really angry and walks around with a really long face.”

Míchel Salgado

The former Real Madrid player and current Blackburn defender tells Don Balón that he has signed a contract with Sky Television to provide commentary in English for Champions League and La Liga games.  He also talked with David Beckham before going to England, and currently lives outside of Manchester, in the same street where David lived when he played for Manchester United!  Míchel’s third child, a son, was born in England a few weeks after he moved there.  And the reason why I’m including this is because he also talks about Real Madrid (and the other stuff was interesting), saying he will never forget Madrid, and that 10 years there, which is how long he played with the white jersey, is like 30 years anywhere else.  Salgado says his most memorable moments there were winning the Champions League cups, and the worst were losing the two Copa del Rey finals.  He gets asked a lot about Madrid in England, and people always question why Guti doesn’t play more.  (He is also asked in the interview about Cristiano but it’s not interesting so I’m not including it here).

Marcos Alonso

Fresh from making his début with the first team, Marcos said that he’s very happy with what happened, and that his objective now is to make the first team next season.  He says his father, who played in Barcelona, is now celebrating when Madrid scores because of his son.

UPDATE – Julio Baptista

The ex-Madrid and current Roma player, who scored in the Camp Nou to give Madrid a 0-1 victory back in December 2007, talked with Marca about the upcoming clásico.  That stuff is not too interesting, so I’ll write here what he said about his friends:  “La Bestia” says that he talks with Kaká, Marcelo and Sergio Ramos, but not about football.  He believes Kaká will succeed in Madrid, and says he’s a “10” as a player and as a person.  As for Higuaín, Julio tells us that he’s grown a lot and also matured a lot, and is on his way to becoming a crack.