Zidane: "2016 has been 'the dog's bollocks'..."

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane praised his players for today's victory over Kashima Antlers in Yokohama - a win which allows his team to end the year with another addition to the trophy cabinet, the Club World Cup.

Mutt's nuts

The trophy: “2016 has been the dog's bollocks… for everyone, for the players… It's been an amazing year and I am very happy for a job well done. It wasn't easy, to achieve this we had to suffer - as we saw today. The good thing is that this team never surrenders and that is what had made it achieve great things”.

Perfect year: “When you dream, you think you might be able to achieve things like this. Now we just have to keep going. We know that the season is going to be long. The nice things is that now we have some time to rest with our families. Hopefully we can continue along the same lines in the New Year”.

Antlers surprise

The win: “The trophy is importante and we knew that we were going to suffer. Our rivals really surprised us, - how much they ran, how hard they fought… it's been a long journey to get this far and we have managed to win the trophy”.

Positive attitude

Key moments since taking the Madrid job: “There haven't been any. All we are trying to do is improve every aspect of our game. Sometimes we suffer and don't play as well as we should but that's normal. The good thing is that we are very positive about what we are doing, and that we can punish our opponents. We're a side with a lot of talent”.

Kashima: “Some of them could easily play in LaLiga - they are very good players”.

More Madrid supporters than Kashima fans: “I knew that there would be a lot of madridistas and I want to thank them all, and also the Japanese public”.

Japanese footballers

A Japanese player playing for Real Madrid one day? “It's a dream - like it was for me when I was a player. We have to to believe that it is possible but through hard work”.

Memory of Japan: “I'm not thinking about anything in particular right now - just my family. They are always there, whether you do well or badly. But I also want to thank the players because they have done amazingly well - those who play regularly and those who play less often”.