Pepe on Ronaldo’s example: “He’d grab an apple, hit the gym…” | OneFootball

Present on the final day of the Portugal Football Summit, Pepe spoke about the deep friendship he maintains with Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Funny enough, I first met Cris’s family in Madeira. In 2003 I came to do preseason at Sporting and I met him; our relationship started there. We had two-a-day training sessions, and at 17 he would leave at 2 p.m. eating a pear or an apple to go to the gym. That shows who he is. It’s not easy, so many years and still breaking records. Leaders always try to set an example. A good leader doesn’t impose law or word, but leads by example. In schedules, diet, rest, recovery, respect, and the desire to always win… you start cultivating, within the working group, 25 players with different ways of being and thinking, but what matters is that we’re representing the country and we all want to win. Regardless of A or B. Each one giving their best for victory together,” he said.

As for the possibility of Portugal winning the World Cup, Pepe replied: “I don’t talk to him about that. Inside, it was day to day. At a certain stage we don’t think much about the future. Today’s game is important, and the one with Hungary. When we’re at the World Cup we’ll have time to talk, discuss the teams we might face, and look, point by point, at their strengths and weaknesses to see if we can achieve that title so important for Portugal.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.