‘Young boy’ still hungry for glory
Cristiano Ronaldo said he had no intention of slowing down after spearheading a 4-1 victory over Juventus that made Real Madrid the first team to retain the UEFA Champions League.
Ronaldo's double in Saturday's final at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, allied to goals by Casemiro and Marco Asensio, earned him a fourth Champions League win and gave Madrid their third in four years and 12th in total.
Ronaldo, 32, has now scored 600 career goals for club and country, including 105 in the Champions League, and has finished as the top scorer in the competition for the last five seasons.
"I think people don't have words to criticise, because the numbers don't lie," he told reporters after receiving the man-of-the-match award from his former Manchester United mentor Alex Ferguson.
"I'm very happy. It was an amazing season again. We won trophies. It's one of the best moments in my career. I have the opportunity to say that every year. But it's true.
"This year was amazing again, last year was amazing too. Now I have two or three days off to rest and after we have a (World Cup) qualifying game for Portugal and we have the Confederations Cup.
"It's a long season, but I'm motivated, I'm happy. I'm in a good moment. My age is just a number. I feel like a young boy."
Madrid became the first team to defend the European Cup successfully since Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan in 1990 and the first to achieve the feat since the competition relaunched as the Champions League in 1992.
"There's no doubt whatsoever, today is a truly historic day for Madrid's fans, myself and our big family," said Zinedine Zidane, who has now won four Champions Leagues as a player and coach.
"Having said that, you know how things are. Next year it's going to be even more difficult. We're going to have to work very hard to win once again. "But we can say that we are a very good team and that we deserved to win the league and the Champions League. It was not easy."
Zidane, 44, led Madrid to glory in last season's Champions League less than five months after succeeding Rafael Benitez to take up his first managerial role.