‘In my time we started by winning the Seventh and now we are going for the Fifteenth. It's spectacular,’ said the three-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid.
Roberto Carlos was the protagonist of the fourth and final day of the White Week of the Real Madrid Universidad Europea University School. The club's Director of Institutional Relations, Emilio Butragueño, presented an event in which the Brazilian legend, who won three Champions League titles with our team, said: ‘Real Madrid has made me grow as a human being and as a professional and I am very grateful for everything. Working at this club is the best thing, both when I was playing and now as an ambassador. You learn a lot about what Madrid represents off the pitch. Real Madrid is a reference for any human being and I am privileged to be able to live here and enjoy football’.
His time at Real Madrid
‘For a boy who leaves Brazil young and with the illusion of making history, being in the Brazilian national team and at Real Madrid have been dreams that have come true. It's been 11 complicated years, because playing for Real Madrid wasn't that easy, people thought that the world of football is easy and here at Madrid, you have to win all the time.
The love of the fans
‘I experience the affection of the fans with great joy and with the utmost intensity. You always have to be happy, humble and treat people well. I have a lot of fun travelling because people still remember me and that's a good sign. Working as an ambassador means a lot to me, it shows that we made a nice story on the pitch. It's a reward for what Roberto Carlos is like as a player and as a person.
The Champions League
‘When people talk about the European Cup they talk about Alfredo Di Stéfano, Puskas, Gento... We didn't go there with the obligation to win it, but at that time a team had been formed to win the League and the Champions League. Everything happened very quickly, I wasn't prepared for the European Cup, in Brazil I watched it on television. And from one day to the next you see yourself entering the stadium in Amsterdam with the Cup in front of you. It was my first European Cup final, playing against a great Juventus, but we had a strong team to win and that's where we dreamed about this competition again. We started in my time with the Seventh and now we are going for the Fifteenth. It's spectacular to play in this competition, it's easy to play in it but difficult to win it.
Real Madrid and Brazil
‘When you leave Brazil you have to understand that if you are at Real Madrid it is because you are good at what you do, in other words, you are good at everything. Also, we adapted very quickly to the European culture. In Real Madrid you have to work harder because they force you to do more things on and off the pitch; it's a very correct club, an example for other clubs. A canterano has everything to grow and at the end of his career to say ‘I have lived in Real Madrid’. When I left in 2007 I missed it a lot. Here you also have that winning idea, to always play well. Only Madrid has that, something spectacular’.
Other interventions
The last day of White Week also featured the participation of José Ángel Sánchez, CEO of Real Madrid. Rodrigo Marín, Director of Corporate Projects at Real Madrid, focused his speech on The situation in the football industry and the Real Madrid formula. And Francisco Panadero, the club's Director of Infrastructures and Asset Development, spoke about Asset Development: added value of assets.
