Ronaldo Names The Best He Ever Played And Trained With During Legendary Career

Ronaldo Nazario has named former Real Madrid teammate Zinedine Zidane as the best he ever played and trained with.

The Brazilian superstar is widely recognised as one of the greatest strikers of all time, winning a slew of top trophies.

He has been named in France Football's 'Ballon d'Or Dream Team' and when asked about any standout colleagues, his mind went straight to Zidane.

"Zizou [Zidane] has been the best player I have trained and played with," he begun. "And now he has become a coach and won three Champions Leagues in a row.

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"That is why today I ask myself: 'Who is better, Zidane the player or Zidane the coach? But I can't answer".

The pair played together at the Santiago Bernabeu from 2002 until Zidane's retirement in 2006.

Both men were key parts of the 'Galacticos' era and helped 'Los Blancos' win La Liga in 2003.

Ronaldo was also asked about the players who inspired him while growing up and he listed a whole host of legends.

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"Marco Van Basten for sure," Ronaldo continued. "From a very young age I watched Italian football and paid special attention to this player

"[Diego] Maradona and [Johan] Cruyff, too. And Zico, of course, because he played for Flamengo and I was a fan of that team.

"I tried to take something from all of them and ultimately I can say that I am proud of the career I have had."

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While 'R9' made his name as a deadly forward with clinical finishing ability, there is another position could have played.

"Sometimes I played as a second striker, but I always saw myself up top in the centre. It was like that.

"Maybe I could have played in the '10' position, but I always preferred to be close to the box, where I knew I was the most dangerous. I was so in love with my position as a number 9."

The former Inter Milan man scored 414 goals in 616 appearances for club and country throughout his career.

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One of his greatest talents was the way he could glide past goalkeepers and that's shown in a specific ridiculous stat.

88 of his 414 goals involved rounding the goalkeeper and tapping into an empty net, which is a staggering 21%.

Topics: Football News, Football, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Brazil, Real Madrid

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

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