Three days after winning his third Ballon d'Or and on the eve of being named best player of all time by the Portugal Football Federation, Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo said he still has plenty of ambition and drive.
"You get to the point at which you challenge yourself because you don't have a prove yourself to anyone. You just want to show yourself that you can do it. You could just say that I won everything, I don't have any goals and I can work less but you have to maintain, you have to stay ambitious," Ronaldo told Portuguese journalist Marcelo Robelo de Sousa.
Ronaldo said he would target "another five, six or seven years" of playing at the very top level of the game after winning picking up the 2014 Ballon d'Or ahead of Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer in the voting.
On Wednesday, the Real Madrid star beat legends Eusebio and Luis Figo in fan voting for the best Portugal footballer of all time. Ronaldo got 48.34 percent of the votes while Eusebio was second with 47.1 percent and Figo third with 4.56 percent.
Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho picked up the award as Portuguese coach of the century at the event held outside Lisbon.
"When I left Portugal I began to see things differently. I have experienced the culture of three countries, Portugal, England and Spain," said Ronaldo, who scored 61 goals last year for club and country and set a record by scoring 17 times in last season's Champions League, guiding Madrid to their 10th title, the long-awaited La Decima.
"In England, they are very professional, punctual and that is something I value greatly. They are a fair country, very educated and friendly and I love that. Of Spain, I can single out their optimism and the way they value all that they have. In Portugal, we must learn from them."
This season, he has scored a remarkable 26 goals in 16 games in La Liga and an additional five goals in six Champions League games.
"I want to be the best in the game," he added. "If we don't think this way, we are not going to win any honors. We have to think about the areas in which we are the best. The most important thing is to be dedicated to working hard. New challenges come every day. No matter how much talent you have, if you don't have discipline, it is worth nothing."
About the game, Ronaldo said that his attitude has changed over the years.
"What began as fun ended up being work and then responsibility," he said. "Now I play for fun but with goals. You get to the point at which you challenge yourself because you don't have to prove anything to anyone."
The Portugal captain's career also hit a low point in 2014 as well when he was injured and his country were eliminated from last summer's World Cup at the group stages, after he had ended the club season hampered by a tendinosis issue in his left knee.
He said he had no regrets over how this issue had played out, while suggesting some people had refused to accept the reality of the situation.
Regarding his training regime, Ronaldo said he mixes it up.
"I don't spend all my time training but I do things to improve so that I can remain in top shape until I am 35 or maybe 36. You have to give some things up, there are many temptations. It is difficult, even more so in the culture that we live in in Spain. It is a very open society, the people are happy and they live day to day, always happy even within life's difficulties, obviously. It always surprises me a bit that a country that borders Portugal could have such a completely different mentality," he said.
"You get nowhere without hard work. Dedication and hard work is the most important for me. Life is a jigsaw puzzle and each day there is a new piece to put in there. To have success you must have rules and discipline. If you have no commitment or dedication, no matter how much talent you have, you won't be able to win."
As for responsibilities Ronaldo said he faces them head-on: "Many times one looks for excuses: 'I didn't have the chance, I had the responsibilities of this or that.' But if you really want to do something, you can do it."
His advice to young players: "is optimism. You have to be an optimist, be the most professional and work hard. Hard work is the key to success, as well as a bit of luck, which also matters."