Cristiano Ronaldo x Piers Morgan Part 2 | On Trump, Jota, World Cup & More

0:00Before Portugal, never won nothing. I win three titles for Portugal history. For me, it's more easy to score in Spain than to score in Saudi. You lost one of your colleagues. You didn't attend his funeral. Two things. Who was the most famous, me or President Donald Trump? What do you think?

0:22I want to talk about another very sad thing that happened to you recently. You lost one of your Portugal colleagues. Diogo Jota, and it was an unbelievably shocking thing to happen. Where were you when you heard that he had died with his brother in this crash? I was with Gio alone in our period of rest. I was there in the gym in the morning with Gio.

0:53I didn't believe when they sent me messages. I'm crying a lot. You can confirm that. I don't... It was very, very difficult moments for the country, for families, for friends, for teammates. are the vast, very, very, very sad news. He's 28 years old. Yeah. At the peak of his game, he was playing at Liverpool. Everything was going so well for him. And just reminded you how fragile life can be, right? This is why something that I mentioned before, that you have to enjoy the moments and don't plan much to the future. This is why my guys, they can confirm I'm not planning now. not just because of that situation but before also with my kids that happened I'm not planning things with the in the long terms only short terms because everything can change in one and one moment or another moment so we have to be happy to be here and live the moments enjoy the life because the future only God knows.

2:10But it was a short moment. We still feel the aura there in the national team when you put the shirt. Because Diogo, it was one of us. What kind of guy was he? Very good guy, a quiet guy. A good player as you know. But very, how do you say, he's not a guy that speaks too much. So it was very, how do you say the words? Level-headed? Yes. Yes. I really like, I like it to meet him, to share with him so great moments. But it was sad. Sad. I had the opportunity to speak with their family and to give support because these moments we cannot. Because he's a beautiful young wife and children. I mean, this was nothing.

3:09Everything is gone because of one moment. So we have to enjoy the life. So it's hard. You didn't attend his funeral and your sister responded to people who were sort of raising questions by saying on social media that you just didn't want to turn the whole thing into an unnecessary circus with too much attention on you. Is that really what you were thinking? Two things. People criticize me a lot. As I say, I don't care about that because when you feel your conscience is good, free, you don't have to be worried about what the people say. But one of the things I don't do, it's after my father died, I've never been in a cemetery again.

3:58And second, as you say and you mentioned good, and you know me and you know my reputation, whatever I go is a circus. You know, I don't go also because if I go, the attention goes from me and I don't want this kind of attention. And I saw, and I'm not criticized, I just say that I didn't like it. when you go in some sensitive moment to do interviews, to speak about him, to speak about football. Come on, guys, what is this? You know, this show, Auschwitz, is life sometimes. I'm not part of that. If you want to be part of this world, good luck. I'm going to be on the other side. people can continue to criticize me or they criticize my but it's gone already I felt good with my decision I don't need to be in the first line people see me I don't want to speak good because Christian is coming I know I planning the things I thinking about his family I don't need to be in the cameras just for the people seeing what I do I do behind the scenes my friends I feel better than that, but they do it's a big propaganda and big publicity by my name, but it's okay.

5:30No problem. I understand. And to change the conversation for funny way. If you want to enjoy in a birthday, don't invite me because if I go to your birthday, it's going to be a big mess. No, no, that's fine with me. Don't invite me. You're going to enjoy more, much more without Cristiano. Trust me. I turned 60 this year and I'm going to... Don't invite me, please. And I want you to come and ruin it. You can come and be the star of the show. The big dog's here. Don't invite me. Because you're not going to enjoy. No, I wouldn't. You know why? Because the people, they're going to say to your friends, listen, guys, Christiane is coming.

6:06You don't know my friends. Don't take pictures. You don't know my friends. They're going to drink two glasses of wine in the middle of the night. They're going to say, please take a picture with me. Yeah. We'll be a big mess. My friends drink a lot more than two glasses of wine. Secondly, I will do anything for the Instagram. and you at my party, of course, it's going to blow up the internet. I'll take any circus you want to bring. It's not a problem. No, I'm not going to be. You're going to enjoy more. Trust me, please. The first interview we did in Turim, you were at Juventus, and you revealed a story which was really extraordinary, that when you were like 13, you were so hungry at the Sporting Lisbon Academy that you and a friend would, you'd go to a local McDonald's and you would hang around the back and two ladies in the McDonald's would give you free burgers.

6:55And you were so grateful to them because you were so hungry, literally hungry. And we tried everything after that to find them. And then I hear that you were walking through an airport and you randomly researched. Yes, yes. And you randomly bumped into one of them. Tell me about that. Wow, that was a funny story. I learned from Ghiad to Lisbon. When I take off there, we are in a private area. And one of my friends, they say, Christiane, look what I see here. And I look at it. You know when you see some person and you recognize straight away even 20 years after. And I was with my kids and with you and everyone.

7:42and I give a big hug to the girl and even my kids say, Daddy, what you do? And also, Gio, look at me, and I tell them the story, and it was like a moment that I feel like, wow, the life is a box of surprises you never expect this moment. and it was good and I was I spoke with my with my my friends we are already know who is the people and the percent and pretty soon I will do something something special I promise when I say something I try to promise and I will do it under percent and one of the person who was that girl so this is we already have What did she say when she saw you? Did she know that?

8:36She was a little bit on shock because she never expected that I would recognize her. In the same way, when she saw me she said, It's Cristiano, maybe she's not gonna not even speak with me. Did she realize you had been that boy who then she did? Yes, and she told me one thing, she said, Cristiano, you never imagined. Every time that you come to Portugal, I know because I'm... I work behind the scenes and I plan to come in here to receive you, just to see you and they always make me a part. And this moment, because one of the persons that didn't come, I replaced. This is why I come. And I was so happy, I said listen, this is the life.

9:22The life is brilliant because of that and it's all about moments, chapters and everything. And I said to my friends to keep our number and we're gonna do something when I'm gonna have time. I'm gonna do something beautiful and special for that people who helped me in that period. Amazing story and what's even more incredible is that your new CEO Al Naseer Yes. is a guy called Jose Semedo, he's sitting standing right over there and he was the other guy with you. Yes. Queuing up for the McDonald's from those ladies, he was 13, you were 13 and he was telling me a story. which says a lot about you that he was actually going to be let go from the academy and you, age 13, went to see the head of the academy and you pleaded with him to keep your friend and you added a fifth bed to a little dormitory of about four beds, it was very tight you added a fifth bed and he allowed your friend to stay and he went on to become a professional footballer himself played in Premier League, played in other leagues and came here and is now the new CEO about the scene, apparently doing very well.

10:33I think he told me that actually. But what an amazing journey you two have been on. I think - You both are age 14. When you were 14, you had no money, you were hungry, you were queuing for burgers, and now you're here together living the truth. Look at life, how brilliant. Amazing, huh? I love it. Sometimes when I'm thinking and speak about this kind of moments, I feel emotional, you know, because life is brilliant and God's make you in a place where you deserve. And I'm going to make a challenge for you. I think you should probably make an interview to him. Yes. Because you're going to love it.

11:10He's a very, very, very, very interesting guy. No, no, I've already got the headline. It's not because he's here with me, but... And he's not in CEO of Al Nassar because he's my friend, no. He has huge potential, and everyone's our surprise. It's easy when you are around a friend, people, to say that. but speak with other people other ones and they say the work that they do the potential that they have and one of the best qualities for me I will always put in the top loyalty loyalty honest to then take nothing which does not belong to you and these people is very rare in the world especially especially in the football yeah and especially when it's around a lot of money and you don't buy these people in Carrefour or, you know, you don't buy these people in Amazon.

12:04No, no, no, no. So I challenge you to make an interview to you because he's a very, very interesting person. We've already discussed it. And in fact, we're going to call it the truth about Cristiano, the real story, what he doesn't want the world to know. Perfect. He's going to go popular. And that story is true. But he can mention so many stories are good ones. I know. He's actually a fascinating guy. He's a fashion actor guy. I know how important he's been to you since you were 14. But he made it clear to me that without you, he wouldn't have stayed at the academy and he may never have played football professionally.

12:38So it's been a... I just do it my best. As you know, I'm a loyal guy too. So the loyal guy should be next to the loyal people. And this is what I did that I think they're supposed to do. But I was 12 years old. My mind was like that. But I don't know how to explain. You know, sometimes in your life you do it or you do it mistakes and you do it to good things that you not even realize that what is correct and what is false. But I did what I think it was correct. And not because in that moment, of course, in that moment I like him, but not like now. Now it's like part of my family. I don't need to say that.

13:24but I'm tell you as well Piers my people around me they are fantastic people I'm lucky I'm lucky not just Zemeh because Zemeh is one of the best but also I have other people on my team he's a special guy but I have I have I'm lucky I'm lucky but also the lucky to have lucky it brings effort you need effort and many of the guys who are with me, it's the guys that are inviting to come to be next to me. It's not like the family. Family, you're born with that family. Friends or people who worked with you or with you, they are different. Sometimes you need to choose. I call it the 4am club. And what I mean is...

14:124am club. Who could you call at 4am and they would get out of bed and they'd come and help you? These people. I know your guys and they're fantastic. incredibly loyalty and very protective, rightly. Yeah, but I think they feel the same about you. And that's what's unusual. They have great respect for you. What we take from this life, it's family and friends, you know, relationships, chapters, whatever you have. If you don't have good people around you, you're not going to be happy. So this is what I think. And I repeat, I have, I'm a lucky guy that not because I have good family, but I also have very, very, very good friends.

14:58Not just because they work for me, I call them my friends, because anyway, they are friends. Even if they want other challenges, I'm never going to close their door, but they always will be my friends. So for me, it's a bless. Tell me about your fitness. I look good. You're looking very good, right? I mean, obviously you haven't got these abdominals. We've addressed that before. But you're working at it, and I think you're making good progress. They're pretty... Are they, like... Do you mind if I just... Yeah, it's like hitting granite. Not quite the same. Not quite the same here, but... They say you've got a body of, like, a 28-year-old.

15:39That's what I've read. That's what your team all think, right? Do you feel that? I mean, do you feel that... You don't look 40, and you have the physique of a 40-year-old. No, I'm not. Physically, I think I look much more younger, of course, because I start to do it gym since 12, 13, 14, 15. Do you go every day? Do you do something every day? No, not every day, but I try to maintain a consistency in my life. But do you do something every day? Do you do something physically? I sleep good. I do good routines. I do a good recover. I work good in the gym two or three times per week of weights. Two times per week for me is enough.

16:20I burn because of football, you know. It's just consistency. If you have consistency, it's easy, trust me. Which athletes in modern history do you look at as great examples that maybe have inspired you in terms of the way they take care of themselves? Inspiring me? Inspiring you, yeah. I'm inspiring by myself. Who have you looked at where you think… I saw good examples in other sports as well. For example, I don't know, basketball, LeBron James. I think we are the same age. I met him the other day. Very nice guy. I have more hair than him. You do, and he's earning golf, but he's not very good.

17:01Now's a good time to play him at golf. But I think it's good because he still plays football, basketball, and he's in good shape. other ones Modric still looking good yeah what's he 41 now Modric I think 39 40s Djokovic so Novak is here he's playing in this in the six kings thing and he said yesterday you're one of his role models he named you for wanting to continue playing into his 40s because they all saying look now that Sinner and Alcaraz are kind of the new top guys will you retire? And he's like, actually, I want to keep going. I want to keep proving to myself I can keep going. And he named you as the example.

17:46So you're inspiring him. And it probably feels good, right? Of course. The greatest tennis player in history. I think it's good when you have other sports, other people, they speak good about your name. It means a lot. And Novak is a great example of greatness in the sport. So it's good. I'm glad from his words. Do you feel now, obviously you're probably not as quick as you were, so, you know, the initial you were a winger, a flying winger, you've changed your position, the way you play football and so on, but do you think as an actual goal scorer, because your record for Portugal recently has been insane, you've obviously been scoring enormous number of goals here in Saudi Arabia, and your record says 30, has got better than it was in the previous period of your career, But do you think you're a better natural finisher now than you've ever been?

18:41I think I've always been a good, a top finisher, I think. Probably more, I'm focused more on that because, as you mentioned, by the age you start to lose some things and you have to improve other things. And some things that you always can improve is mentally. and this is what I'm focused to be mentally good fresh because the brain you don't go faster you not get older faster in the brain more you feel more physically I mean professional players and I am I'm adapt you know and this is But finisher, finisher, of course, with the first three, four, five years, I wasn't very, very, very good. I was good, but not top.

19:35But after 25, I think I was very similar. If you ask my teammates, if you ask my friends, they will say the same. Probably more. Now I'm more focused on that. Right. Because I'm playing, I'm not winger anymore, and I played the last... Well, I watched your score the other day, and it's just your movement. Because I think in the penalty area, look, I'm not going to tell you how to score goals, but in the penalty area, a lot of it is last-minute movement, I think, by the top strikers. It's their ability to get away from a defender very quickly in the box. You should refresh, man. Right. And I watched the way you took them, and they look relatively easy, right?

20:18They don't look like that goal you just showed me. But the movement and the awareness, and then the finish, that's not easy. If it was, everyone would do it. Of course. So that's an instinctive thing, isn't it? I think so, yes. Instinctive things you learn by the time, you learn by the experience. And one thing that I think makes the difference is you can improve all the time. Even with my age, you have some points that you can improve. And this is the biggest mistake of the players. They think they know everything and they don't learn more. If you see an instance of the football, the players, after when they get 30s, they slow down.

20:57And I'm opposite. I score more goals after 13. You can say whatever they want because most of the times the people speak about football. They don't know nothing. Wayne Rooney, your old colleague, said last week that he doesn't hate you. People have said that he did. He loves you. He called you a genius. He said you're much closer than people realise. But he still said Messi's better. No problem. No problem. That's a very diplomatic answer, Christian. No, but it's serious. I'm not mad with that. For me, it's okay. You can choose whatever you want. Did you get on well with Wayne? Did you have a friendship with him or not, really?

21:41When we used to play, we had a good relationship. Not friends like me, that kind of friends, the relationship that I have with these guys. and they come in one time per week or two to have a dinner with me or lunch. But we have good relationship. In football, I don't have friends that they come in my house for a lunch or a dinner. When I mean friends, I have good relationship, but friends, friends for me, it's a different word. For me. But relationship was good. Like Ferdinand was a friend, yes. I still maintain his relationship with him. I'm a sociable man. I respect him. It's like in Al-Assad, I'm good with everybody.

22:25But friend, friend, I think it's a very, very, very deep word, in my opinion. But I'm nothing against him, trust me, Piers. It's okay. Hey, it's... It's own things, it's... What he loved the most, players or decision makers of... For me, it's not a problem, you know. I respect him, I respect him. More when we play, because I think he... He do so many good things for Manchester United. we won so many things together, but it's OK. And these words that he say, thank you to him. That he say that I'm a genius, whatever he prefers, no problem, no problem. For me, it's all good. If I see him around, I'm shaking his hand, I give you a hug.

23:24For me, it's not a problem. I don't have time to be against people anymore. It's OK, I respect everybody. The goals are the ultimate answer to any criticism, aren't they? I mean, if you're a striker, if you just keep scoring at the rate you score, and like I said, they can look at the Saudi league and say it's always good. Ah, excuses. But actually, look at Portugal, is what I say. Look at your record for Portugal. It recently has been off the charts. Excuses. Yeah. Excuses is the most simple way for everything. Excuses, excuses, excuses. because year by year, year by year, I scored more. Even in a bad year, I scored 25 goals.

24:06If I play in Premier League now, in a top team, I will score the same. Well, the last season you played, last full season. Easy. If I have a good team with 14 years old, I will score the same. Your last season in the Premier League, full season, you got 18 Premier League goals. I think one below Harry Kane or the same as Harry Kane and six Champions League goals. Well, any team would take us away. I don't need to speak because they can say whatever they want, but the numbers they don't like. They can say Saudi League. They've never been here. They've never played here. They don't know what to run with 40 degrees.

24:41They don't know. And I still continue and I repeat. The Saudi League, the Saudi League, is much better than Portuguese League, of course. French League is only PSG. Premier League is good, of course, it's the number one. And they should count even, they should count like the goals to be the top scorer, the golden ball. Why they don't count Saudi League? Why? You see, look how many players, top players we have in the league. Check. Ask the other players if the league is good. Don't ask to me because it's easy to ask me because I'm always saying that, I could say that, because he played in Saudi.

25:23No, no. No, listen, I play everywhere. Everywhere. For me it's more easy to score in Spain than to score in Saudi. By the way, do you accept that you're only here because of me in that interview? Probably. So given you're now a billionaire and you made probably half of it here. I wasn't... Where's my cut? Where's my commission? Yeah. You're on the verge of what would be a truly, even by your standards, incredible achievement, a thousand goals. No one's ever come close to this. Is there a scenario in your head, given the timing, that you might score your thousandth goal at the World Cup next year?

26:05And is that something that, quietly in the back of your mind, you would think? No, I'm not. I don't think about that. And maybe I was surprised with my answer. If you ask me, Christian, it's a dream to win the World Cup. No, it's not a dream. Well, yes. To win the World Cup, none will change my name in the state of football. I'm not going to lie. One thing that I'm sure is that I enjoy the moment. And I learn by the time that the moment is the most important thing that we have. We are not qualified already. Enjoy the moment. The moment is good. I played three days ago in Hungary in a sporting stadium.

26:53Maybe it was my last game in that stadium. You never know. I'm enjoying it. My mum was there, my family was there, and it was good. And people say, Cristiano will be the greatest if he wins the World Cup. I'm not agreeing. I win three titles for Portugal. You know my view of this. I believe you are the greatest footballer to ever play the game. Thank you. You also know there's a raging debate, right, I say Messi is not even the best Argentinian. Maradona was better than them. How many World Cups win Argentina before Messi? How many? I don't know. Two times? Yeah, it won't be two, I think. But it's normal.

27:29These countries are used to win big competitions. Brazil. If they win the World Cup, they will surprise the world. No. If Portugal win the World Cup, which is possible, they will shock the world. Yes. But in my mind, I don't think in that way. Of course, you want to win. Yeah, when you compete, you want to win. I'm honest. For me, it's not going to change the way I see the things and the way I see the football. Do you believe you've earned the right to be considered the greatest of all time? If you've ever tried to hire someone in another country and immediately hit a wall of paperwork, compliance rules, and back-and-forth approvals, you know how fast that excitement can turn into a headache.

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28:55Go to highpebble.ai before it's gone. That's highpebl.ai. Terms and conditions apply. Of course. Oh, one of the best for many of people, yes. The number one. Peace, but I don't care about that anymore. Seriously. Really? I say so many things, I say so many interviews, what I think. If I say something now, the people are not going to surprise. This story speaks for itself. They have opinions. Some people like more blonde, some people like more dark. It's okay, no problem for me. But to change this story, the history of Portugal, to say if Cristiano will the World Cup will be... No, this doesn't make sense for me.

29:36I win. We won. Three titles for Portugal history. Before Portugal, never won nothing. I'm glad, I'm so happy. You would love it, Cristiano, to win the World Cup. Yeah, but not a... Which session? No, understand what you're saying. I swear for my kids. But I still think that image of you, if it's true... I don't agree. I'm not agree. Really interesting. Yes, no, I'm not agree. Because Portugal never won the World Cup. Yeah, but they can win. Yes, we're going to fight for that. But it shouldn't define you as a player. No. We define when you're 14 years old or 41, to define what? To define if I'm one of the best of history.

30:16To win one competition, six games, seven games. You think it's fair? It's not fair. When you go to the World Cup in America, David Beckham is the sort of most, along with Messi now, but Beckham is the kind of guy that went to America and became this sort of superstar. you play with Beckham you compare to Beckham a lot not least your looks I'm not going to compare the football because to me he's not in the same league as you as a footballer however do you think you're better looking than David Beckham? Depends Are you more handsome?