"He isn't born a champion, he becomes one" - Former PL coach reveals why he draws inspiration from Cristiano Ronaldo's mentality

Former Brighton & Hove Albion coach Roberto Di Zerbi has taken a leaf out of Cristiano Ronaldo's champion mentality. The 40-year-old Ronaldo is still going strong despite making his professional debut more than two decades ago.

An elite scorer - in fact the game's most prolific scorer with nearly 940 strikes for club and country - the five-time Ballon d'Or winner is also famed for his elite mentality and hard work.

De Zerbi - who now manages Ligue 1 side Olympique Marseille - said about the Portuguese legend's mentality, telling L'Equipe (via Foot Africa)

"I was never a champion myself, but I tried to adopt that mentality, the same mentality as Cristiano Ronaldo. He isn't born a champion. He becomes one. A player who is born a champion owes it to God, to his parents. But when you become a champion, it's down to hard work, effort, ambition and sacrifice."

He added:

"After a great victory, a defeat is never far away. In fact, after Lyon we lost to Strasbourg (0-1). I grew up in AC Milan's youth academy, surrounded by Baresi, Maldini, Tassotti — a team of immense champions. "I spent two and a half years living at Milanello. I watched them win the Scudetto on Sunday, and then return to training on Tuesday morning as if nothing had happened."

Having managed Brighton for two seasons, De Zerbi arrived at Marseille last summer. Meanwhile, Ronaldo is going strong at his current side, Al-Nassr, whom he joined in December 2022 as a free agent.

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How did Cristiano Ronaldo fare last season?

Cristiano Ronaldo (lef)

Cristiano Ronaldo is coming off a fairly decent 2024-25 campaign with Al-Nassr, registering 35 goals and four assists in 41 games across competitions, slightly down from his 44-goal 2023-24 campaign where he had struck a league-record 36 goals.

Coming back to the last season, Ronaldo netted 25 league goals and provided three assists in 30 games as Al-Nassr finished behind champions Al-Ittihad and the previous season's winners Al-Hilal.

The Portugal captain, who won the UEFA Nations League with his country this summer for the second time, also scored eight times in as many AFC Champions League Elite outings, with the Knights of Najd losing in the semi-finals to Kawasaki Frontale.

Edited by Bhargav