Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho praises display of Cristiano Ronaldo in Chivas friendly win

Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho praises display of Cristiano Ronaldo in Chivas friendly win


The Portuguese coach was full of praise for his compatriot after a treble in the 3-0 victory, which he felt constituted a testing run-out for his players in pre-season.

Ronaldo scored all three goals in Real Madrid's second match of their summer tour of the United States, which all came in the final quarter of the game after a scoreless opening 45 minutes in the World Football Challenge.


"Cristiano is Cristiano. He always has the joy, the motivation and the pride to play, be it in China, Japan or the USA. He himself is pleased to have played well and scored. We knew we wanted to play well and we managed that," he told Goal.com after the match.

Mourinho also had warm words of encouragement for another of the club's superstars in Brazilian playmaker Kaka, whom he feels is ready to bounce back and hit top form after a disappointing, injury-afflicted period at the Bernabeu to date.

"I always knew that what Kaka needed was to have a proper pre-season. The World Cup, injuries, a last-minute transfer to Real Madrid have combined to ensure that he has not had a proper pre-season in five or six seasons."

Pre-season tours of north America have become commonplace in recent years and Mourinho feels that the standard of the opposition means that such games are a good basis for preparation ahead of a long league campaign.

"This was very good training for us. I have been coming to the USA for many years with Chelsea and now Madrid. We played against American and Mexican teams, though never Chivas from America. They are tough games against good sides, who play aggressively.

"That is what we need. There is no need to win games 10-0. We need to play against good teams, who give us some problems."