Friday, January 27, 2006
Robinho celebrates coming of age at Real.
MADRID, (Reuters) - Coming on his 22nd rather than his 21st birthday, Robinho believes his match-winning performance against Real Betis shows he has finally come of age at Real Madrid.
"The truth is that I feel incredibly pleased and I hope I can keep bringing pleasure to the Bernabeu with the way I play and by scoring more goals," the Brazilian told reporters after scoring the winner in a 1-0 King's Cup victory over the holders.
"It's my first season here and I'm very happy. I just hope that we will win at least one trophy, that's what we are all fighting for."
Although he made a promising debut in his first match after a $30 million move from Santos, Robinho struggled to adapt to European football in his first few months at Real and was even jeered by his own fans.
Things threatened to get worse when Vanderlei Luxemburgo, his former mentor at Santos, was sacked as coach at the start of December, but the Brazil international appears to have put that setback behind him.
He has rediscovered the confidence in his trademark stepovers and scored a spectacular 25-metre lob to wrap up Real's 3-1 win against Cadiz last week.
"Real need me now and we are only a step away from the final," he said after Wednesday's quarter-final. "The team is very strong now and we are getting better all the time.
"The hard work we've done in training has done us a lot of good but there is still plenty of room for improvement."
"The truth is that I feel incredibly pleased and I hope I can keep bringing pleasure to the Bernabeu with the way I play and by scoring more goals," the Brazilian told reporters after scoring the winner in a 1-0 King's Cup victory over the holders.
"It's my first season here and I'm very happy. I just hope that we will win at least one trophy, that's what we are all fighting for."
Although he made a promising debut in his first match after a $30 million move from Santos, Robinho struggled to adapt to European football in his first few months at Real and was even jeered by his own fans.
Things threatened to get worse when Vanderlei Luxemburgo, his former mentor at Santos, was sacked as coach at the start of December, but the Brazil international appears to have put that setback behind him.
He has rediscovered the confidence in his trademark stepovers and scored a spectacular 25-metre lob to wrap up Real's 3-1 win against Cadiz last week.
"Real need me now and we are only a step away from the final," he said after Wednesday's quarter-final. "The team is very strong now and we are getting better all the time.
"The hard work we've done in training has done us a lot of good but there is still plenty of room for improvement."
