Cristiano Ronaldo challenges younger Ballon d'Or contenders to surpass his and Lionel Messi's success

In an interview released on Tuesday (October 30, 2018), in France Football, Cristiano Ronaldo challenged this year's Ballon d'Or contenders like Kylian Mbappe and Mohamed Salah to emulate he and Messi and dominate football for the next decade. The following extracts from Ronaldo's exclusive interview with France Football show that age has no effect on Ronaldo's football ambitions. The five-time Ballon d'Or winners Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have championed Spanish and European football for about a decade now. Despite admitting that competition for the Ballon d'Or would be stiffer this year, Ronaldo didn't rule himself out as a favorite contender, which if won would make him the most successful player in the history of the Ballon d'Or.

"It'll be the same [names] as usual, but I don't know if Messi will be on the podium this time. So, let's say Salah, Modric, Griezmann, Varane, Mbappe, the French in general because they're world champions. But I'm waiting to see if all those players are still at the top in 10 years, as Messi and I have been, and as we continue to be. We're always there, on the podium for more than 10 years," said Ronaldo, who has been shortlisted on the 30-strong list of nominees.

"People would like it to be the end of an era, but that's not the case. I am and will still be there. And I deserve it. My performances speak for themselves. Don't count me out!"

"I have said several times winning a sixth Ballon d'Or isn't an obsession," insisted the former Real Madrid man, who has claimed the honor the last two years. "I already know, deep down, that I'm one of the best players of all-time. Of course I want to win it, that sixth Ballon d'Or. I would be lying if I told you the contrary.

"I work for that. Just like I work to score goals and win matches without that becoming an obsession. The Ballon d'Or, yes, I think I deserve it this year. And I work hard for that to be the case every year. I know what I do, that I compile stats regularly all year long, what I win in terms of trophies. And you know it just as well as me.

"But I also know what the others do, the credit they have, and I have a lot of respect for them. If I don't win the Ballon d'Or, I'll sleep just the same at night, because I know who I am. Yes, I dream of winning the Ballon d'Or for a sixth time and to pass, at the current time, Lionel Messi. But I don't control the vote, just my performances."

Ronaldo's swap for Juventus in the summer has not put an end to Ronaldo's individual duel with Messi. The 33-year-old Juventus ace revealed what the most challenging thing in football is as he went on to say: "That's the most difficult thing in this sport: staying at the top, maintaining your level. Going to the gym for three or four hours to keep your body in shape, that's fine. What's tough is to keep that work ethic, that motivation that allows you to be the same player long term. That's very hard. Really. And it's even more so when you have done that for so many years, when you've been at the top for 12 years, without interruption, with trophies to win every year. No one understands that.

"Do you know how many players are able to be at the top of their form for more than 10 years? You can count them on the fingers of one hand. OK, let's say there are two: Messi and I. That's why it's always important to have a challenge, a feat to accomplish, and that's the reason I'm here. I needed adrenaline, stimulation. To write a new page in the novel of the world's best player."

Ronaldo is proud of his top level at his age, especially with his Juventus signing at 33. 

"At 33, no one expects you to ask questions of yourself. At that age, no player goes from one big club to another for €100 million. It's mad! At my age, and I say this with the utmost respect for those who do it, players go to China, the Emirates or India, and they finish their career there, without maintaining their level. In a way, I'm proud not to think like that, to be a different animal, a different athlete, a different person with a different brain. I'm not saying I'm better, just different. But that's perhaps why I've been at the top of the game for 12 years," explained Ronaldo.

According to France Football, Ronaldo's recent FIFA World Cup performance stats were those of a player 10 years younger. 

"In the head, yes. And it's the head that controls everything," responded Ronaldo when asked if he felt like a 23-year-old. "Age is in the head. That's what enables me to still be at the top now, to enjoy what I do on the pitch just as much, to be happy, quite simply. I know it'll come to an end one day. In four, five, six years, who knows...it's the attitude that makes and will make the difference. Now, I'm motivated and relishing the present."

Ronaldo admitted on being asked if he felt his physical abilities were waning that they were. He said, "From a certain point of view, yes. Except that when you look at the stats, you see that I'm still performing in an incredible way. The numbers never lie, and they are good. I'm still enjoying myself. So, I'm not asking myself questions."