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Cristiano Ronaldo reveals the one thing he'd change in football

Cristiano Ronaldo reveals the one thing he'd change in football

Cristiano Ronaldo picked up the Global Soccer Award for 2013 in Dubai on Saturday and revealed the one rule he'd like to see introduced to football.

The Real Madrid and Portugal superstar was the headline speaker at the eighth annual Dubai International Sports Conference.

Speaking to legendary referee Pierluigi Collina, Ronaldo said he would like referees to use a marker at free-kicks to ensure the wall remained the full 10 yards away.

Given his prowess from dead-ball situations, such a change would undoubtedly spell even more trouble for his opponents.

"One rule that will work if it is used everywhere, is that when you have a free-kick, the referee puts the mark on the floor to make sure the defenders keep their distance," said Ronaldo.

The Portuguese, 28, is the odds-on favourite to pick up his second Ballon d'Or next month after scoring 69 goals for club and country in 2013.

But what's the secret to his success? "Hard work and determination" he says. "Every season is a new challenge to me and I always set out to improve in terms of games, goals, assists," added Ronaldo.

"The last six or seven years, I am always better than the previous year. It is part of me to make improvements and I try to dedicate myself all the time."

RULE CHANGES

Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola was also in attendance in Dubai ahead of his side's winter training camp in Doha next month. And he too revealed the one change he would make in the game.

"As a coach I would like to be able to make more substitutions," said the Spaniard. "This would allow me to manage the team in a better way. It would be nice to have more players on the bench overall, really. Everyone would benefit from this because players would be less tired, as well."

Meanwhile, former England boss Fabio Capello, now in charge of the Russian national team, said he'd like to see timeouts introduced, a view supported by fellow Italian and Juventus coach Antonio Conte.

"From the bench we can't speak, have a tactical change, we can't convey a message," said Capello. "In Russia, when a player is down, we have a one-minute break to give other players the chance to hydrate. We could talk then."

Conte added: "Fabio stole my idea. A timeout would be a nice thing to have because form the bench it is not easy to communicate. If you see something is wrong, a two-minute timeout would be very useful.

ENJOYING DUBAI...

Aside from attending the conference, Cristiano Ronaldo also found time to see some of the iconic tourist attractions in Dubai. Here he is with his girlfriend Irina Shayk and son, Cristiano Jnr, at the Dubai Aquarium.