Cristiano Ronaldo 'Learned A Lot From Me,' Former Teammate Says

A former teammate of Cristiano Ronaldo claims the Portuguese star learned a lot about soccer from him.

Nani is one of the few players who had the chance to play alongside Ronaldo in multiple leagues. The pair shared the pitch together at Machester United and also represented their home country Portugal in the international stage for years. Ronaldo and Nani’s chemistry resulted to two Premier League titles and the Champions League with the Red Devils, the club where the duo may have had their best moments as teammates.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Nani has been recently engaged in interviews on social media. One of his latest statements was picking two Serie A players to complete his five-a-side line-up of former teammates.

Evidently, Ronaldo was a no-brainer for Nani’s list. According to the star winger, he picked “CR7” because of his superb skills on the pitch. However, the 33-year-old also revealed that Ronaldo took some pointers from him during his early days in the sport.

“Cristiano Ronaldo, with all these skills, fast feet. All I taught him in the youth, you know. He learned a lot from me. He knows, he knows,” Nani revealed.

Given Ronaldo’s status, it is quite hard to believe that a player like Nani helped him in his formative years. But whether Nani’s claim is true or not, what remains consistent in his statements was that Ronaldo has always been one of the most notable teammates he played with. In fact, the MLS star ranks Ronaldo above soccer legends Pele and Diego Maradona in greatest of all time talks.

In a Q&A session with fans on social media, Nani emphasized that Ronaldo is the greatest player to ever grace the pitch. But unlike the usual greatest of all time discussions, Nani didn’t say anything about Ronaldo’s soccer nemesis Lionel Messi. This is something that is quite unusual as the Argentine is often put on the same breath as the Portuguese for over a decade now.

“My favourite was still Cristiano Ronaldo – the best. Best player ever? I have seen so many even from the past like (Diego) Maradona, Pele. But I would pick my companion of many battles, someone I have won so much with, someone I really respect. Numbers don’t lie and they also show he is the best – Cristiano Ronaldo,” Nani pointed out.

Ronaldo and Nani may have left the fans an array of highlights but even to this day, it is still widely known that Nani is the reason why Ronaldo still has not scored his 100^th international goal.