Ronaldo hungry for more

Cristiano Ronaldo says Portugal's UEFA EURO 2008™ campaign is the perfect next step in his quest to "make history".

Feeling good
The ESM Golden Shoe winner's outstanding season with Manchester United FC brought success in both the Premier League and UEFA Champions League, but he assures euro2008.com he has plenty of energy left for Portugal's glory bid. "I feel really good on a personal level," he said. "I feel I can do something good at EURO 2008. I'm impatient for the competition to start so we can give our best and I think everything will go very well."

Experience
The 23-year-old forward believes Portugal have developed sufficiently to go one better than their heart-breaking final defeat by Greece in Lisbon at UEFA EURO 2004™. "The team's evolution has been very positive. I think the squad have grown a lot since EURO 2004, as we showed at the [FIFA] World Cup in 2006." Ronaldo also reckons his side have a trump card in coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, a world champion with Brazil in 2002 before taking Portugal to the semi-finals of the same tournament two summers ago. "We improved in the qualification matches, which owed much to the staff and the coach we have, who have a lot of experience and who have won a lot of things."

'Always learning'
Ronaldo draws confidence too from his personal development during the four years since his first European finals. "On a personal level I've grown a lot as a player because at my club, just as with my country, I'm surrounded by great players and it's easier to become better when things are like this, because it's easier to enjoy your football," the former Sporting Clube de Portugal prodigy said. "We're always learning."

History maker
Ronaldo, who added the title of UEFA Champions League top scorer to a string of accolades during 2007/08 by registering in the Moscow final, also feels inspired rather than pressurised by the onus of carrying such form on to the international stage. "I think I made history in the Portuguese Liga and I think I'm continuing to make history at a European and world level, but we can always improve. I have a lot to learn but I have the pleasure of being in a group that helps me improve constantly, as a person and as a player. History creates itself over a number of years, not in a moment, but I think I'm on the right road."