Roberto Martinez on FA Cup win with Wigan, Cristiano Ronaldo and Belgium manager

Kelly: Let’s discuss your time with Belgium, because what an incredible group of players you had there – the ‘golden generation’, they said. What challenges did that job bring and what did you get out of that period?

Robert: In the first place, it was to deal with the label of ‘golden generation’. It wasn’t a pressure the players weren’t used to, because you’re obviously talking about the players who were in the most demanding dressing rooms. From Eden Hazard to Kevin de Bruyne, Dries Mertens, Romelu Lukaku, Axel Witsel, Jan Vertonghen, Thomas Vermaelen, Vincent Kompany, Thibaut Courtois, Yannick Carrasco… you are talking about the generation. But I think we managed to focus on: ‘OK, let’s be as good as we can together and let’s become the golden generation.’

I think it was a beautiful journey to go to the World Cup in 2018. After seven games we won six. We lost the semi-final against France only 1-0 – there were few margins – but then we came third by winning the bronze medal in the last game. This is the moment it became the golden generation. At that moment it was a shift to what we could do from that point and that team stayed in the number one ranking for four years in a row. It was a very interesting time to try to get a focus from everyone with that common goal of trying to make history for Belgian football and it was really, really fun.

Kelly: In these interviews I always ask my interviewee to tell me a game from their career, playing or driving, that they wish they could relive…

Robert: I think if I could relive a game it would be the semi-final with Belgium against France because we lost 1-0. I felt we were the best team – we had almost 60% possession – and it was decided by just one action… and if it’s one game I can relive to try and change it, it will be that one.

Kelly: Do you think about it a lot, or can you just park it now?

Robert: No, sometimes I like to think about it. If we were to play it again with the same situation, what could be done differently? And it helps. I think the margins are so small. You have the best possible players from two generations and I think you can learn from already the experience of being in such a match.

Kelly: And you don’t have a bad number of players now in Portugal, do you? You have already won the Nations League and what an opportunity potentially awaits you. The pressure will be there again.

Robert: But it’s an enjoyable push because it’s true… we’ve arrived in Portugal – great tradition, always produced great players throughout history now that we’ve celebrated the moment Eusebio won the Ballon d’Or in 1965. You have players like Luis Figo, Joao Pinto, Rui Costa… it’s a tradition in Portugal, but they’ve won everything except the World Cup. We got an incredible commitment from the players because it’s probably a mix of four generations. You have the captain (Cristiano Ronaldo), who is 41 years old, for being the youngest player born the year the captain made his debut for the national team. So, we look forward. The first step was to qualify. We did it and I always believe there has never been a winning team that arrived at the tournament. The winning team becomes the winning team in the tournament.

Kelly: That captain is, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo. What is it like to drive him?

Robert: Very easily, because of his high standards, his expectations of how the job should be done and his dedication to the game. He really is an example of what you have to do to represent Portugal and the national team. And now he has adapted, of course, after 21 years in the national team – he has adapted. He is a striker, he is an important player for us, and it is the player he is now that is important to me. As a national team coach, a player who has scored 25 goals in the last 30 international games… it’s not that he’s playing because of what he’s done in the past, it’s what he’s done now.

Kelly: The question everyone is asking right now is: ‘How long can he last?’ As someone who has seen him up close, how long do you think he can keep playing?

Robert: Well, we have all the stats. If you’re going to analyze a player who falls on a physical level, that’s not the case. His physical stats are of a player who can go on and on and on. I think it’s more a matter of when he will feel it’s the right time. I think he is a player who is very critical of himself. When he doesn’t see that he can help the team, he will be the one to decide when to stop.