Cristiano Ronaldo in The Player's Tribune

But when you’re a kid, you don’t care about money. You care about a certain feeling. And on that day, this feeling, it was very strong. I felt protected and loved.

When you lose, it’s like you’re starving. When you win, it’s still like you’re starving, but you ate a little crumb.

When I was 15, I turned to some of my teammates during training. I remember it so clearly. I said to them, “I’ll be the best in the world one day.”

They were kind of laughing about it. I wasn’t even on Sporting’s first team yet, but I had that belief. I really meant it.

It is like a final reminder … a final motivation. It says, “El sueño del niño.” The dream of the child.