Come fly with us
AirAsia X chief executive officer Benyamin Ismail (third from right) presenting a shirt to Roberto Carlos as AirAsia unveils the Brazilian football legend as its latest global brand ambassador yesterday.
KUALA LUMPUR: Brazil football legend Roberto Carlos has tipped his country to end a 16-year World Cup title drought in Russia this year.
The 44-year-old former Real Madrid star believes Brazil will head to the June 14-July 15 tournament stronger than ever with his compatriots seeking to bury the nightmare of being humiliated 7-1 by eventual champions Germany in the semi-finals at home four years ago.
Carlos, who is capped 125 times and helped Brazil to their fifth World Cup glory in 2002, said Brazil had regained their stature under new coach Tite with a series of impressive performances in qualifying campaigns.
Brazil booked their 2018 World Cup berth comfortably by topping the 10-team South American qualifiers that ended last October.
“Brazil have responded well to the 2014 debacle and have already moved on,” said Carlos after being unveiled as AirAsia’s global ambassador at a hotel here yesterday.
“We’ll come back strongly and try to win our sixth title.
“I believe Brazil can do it this time. We have a great selection of world-class players, Neymar being one of them, who’s one of the best players in the world at the moment.
“Brazil, being five-time champions, will go to the World Cup as one of the favourites.
“I hope you guys are cheering for Brazil as well!”
Carlos, regarded as the most offensive-minded leftbacks in the history of the game, is known for some of the world’s most famous goals.
He pointed out the physics-defying free-kick against France in a friendly in 1997 and the bending volley strike against Tenerife in the Spanish King’s Cup in 1998 as the ones he cherished most.
“I wasn’t just good at shooting, I could pass too. The pass which I assisted (Zinedine) Zidane for the Champions League-winning goal (against Bayer Leverkusen) in 2002, I can never forget that.”
Carlos spent a single season at Inter Milan in 1995-1996 before moving to Real where he won four La Liga titles and three Champions League trophies.
Carlos said he was honoured to have joined the AirAsia family, the “world champions” of low-cost airlines.
He said: “In Brazil, we say, ‘because we suffer so much we value football. This shows you can succeed no matter where you come from as long as you believe and work hard.
“I’m thrilled to represent a brand like AirAsia, which prides itself in making dreams come true.”
AirAsia Group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, who was not present yesterday, said in a statement: “No one embodies the dare-to-dream spirit like Roberto Carlos.
“We couldn’t be more proud to have such a fighter in our roster of world champion brand ambassadors.”
In Tony’s absence, AirAsia was represented by Riad Asmat, the AirAsia Malaysia CEO and Benyamin Ismail, the AirAsiaX CEO.