Mourinho praises hat-trick hero Ronaldo

Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho paid tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo, whose hat-trick led the side to a 3-0 friendly win over Chivas of Guadalajara.

After being frustrated by the Mexican side’s goalkeeper Luis Michel in the first half in San Diego, Ronaldo finally broke the shackles in the 73rd minute and the star struck twice more in the next nine minutes to wrap up the win for the tourists.

Mourinho was delighted with Ronaldo’s performance, and the coach is pleased with the progress his team is making on their now-routine pre-season tour of North America.

“Cristiano is Cristiano. He always has the joy, the motivation and the pride to play, be it in China, Japan or the USA,” Mourinho said.

“He himself is pleased to have played well and scored. We knew we wanted to play well and we managed that.”

“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.”

Mourinho was also impressed by the form of Brazilian playmaker Kaka, who he feels is ready to resume top form after a lean few years.

“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,” he said.