I know what I am capable of - Fernando Gago
December 2006

"I hope to pay back the Club's faith in me with good performances"

Fernando Gago expressed his happiness for having joined Real Madrid.

He said he is worried about how he might integrate on the team, but not about the pressure of playing for Real Madrid. "I'm relaxed because I know what I'm capable of bringing to the team.

I think it will be similarly demanding as to playing for Boca Juniors," said Fernando Gago to newspaper Olé. Gago is spending the last days of his holidays in his house in Ramos Mejía.

He said he's not afraid of feeling pressure at Real Madrid. "I am a very calm player," he said, "I try to concentrate hard and not think about what goes on around me.

I only think about my first training session, meeting my teammates and knowing what the coach expects of me." Gago's main concern is "integrating into an already established and well blended squad."

"I hope to pay back the Club's faith in me with good performances," he said in reference to the praise he recently got from President Ramón Calderón.

"It's impopssible for two players to be identical," said Gago about the frequent comparisons the press make between him and former Real Madrid star Fernando Redondo.

"We are similar at wanting to control the ball, distribute it and create plays." Real Madrid's new midfielder expects his first taste of the Classic between Real Madrid and Barcelona to be less wild than clashes between Boca Juniors and River Plate in Argentina.

"Passion for those games is greater in Argentina," he said, "It's hard to go out on the street if you lose." Gago assured the fans he won't change at this stage.

"If things have been going well up until now, there is no reson for them to change," he said. The 20-year old also had words of gratitude for his former team. "I grew up there and it made me famous," he said, "I now leave behind years of maturing as a man and a player.

I leave behind having experienced going out onto the pitch at La Bombonera and hear the crowd go crazy. I will never forget that thanks to the Board at that Club I left behind a humble house at Ciudadela for the big house my whole family now enjoys."