Zinedine Zidane has revealed that Ronaldo was the greatest footballer he ever played with, claiming the Brazilian had no weaknesses on the pitch. Over the course of his career, Zidane played with some truly incredible players. Through spells with Juventus and Real Madrid, as well as his exploits with the French national team, he got to team up with the likes of Thierry Henry, David Beckham and Alessandro Del Piero.
For many, the Frenchman himself is their greatest ever teammate. There have been very few who were capable of replicating what he could do on a football pitch. His elegance in midfield set him apart from those around him. He made dominating teams look easy and even left Steven Gerrard in shell shock at one point.
Throughout his career, Zidane won pretty much everything there was to win. He picked up numerous league titles in Italy and Spain as well as getting his hands on a Champions League trophy with Los Blancos. He also won both a World Cup and a European Championship with his national team and then went on to have a superb run as a manager with his former club. He led Madrid to two league titles and three Champions League trophies during his time as manager. With all he’s accomplished, Zidane’s opinion in football holds a lot of weight and he recently revealed the best footballer he ever played alongside.
Zidane Named Ronaldo as His Greatest Teammate
He claimed the Brazilian had no weaknesses
During the Galacticos era at the Bernabeu, one of the most famous in Madrid’s history, Zidane teamed with Ronaldo and their partnership clearly left a lasting impression on the former midfielder. Speaking to Goal, via Bleacher Report, he spoke about his career and named the Brazilian as his greatest ever teammate.
“I’ve always seen Ronaldo as the best because I played and trained with him. He’s probably the best I ever played with. He did what he wanted with the ball and didn’t have any weaknesses. When he decided to express himself with the ball, he did whatever he wanted. Technically, no player has impressed me more than Ronaldo.
“There was no system or tactics that could stop him. It’s like that with a few players and he was one of them. He was fast and skilled. When Ronaldo had the ball, he ran at 2000 miles per hour. In most cases, you’re’ fast without the ball. He was fast with it.”
That’s some very high praise from a man of Zidane’s calibre. He played with some of the very best, so he clearly knows what he’s talking about. Looking at Ronaldo’s career and all he achieved over the years, though, it’s easy to see why he’s held in such high regard by his former teammate.
Ronaldo Had an Incredible Career
He dominated for the likes of Madrid, Inter Milan & Barcelona
Despite injuries hindering the latter stages of his career, Ronaldo still managed to become one of the greatest Brazilian footballers of all time during his playing days. He started off with Cruzeiro in his native Brazil, but was quickly snapped up by PSV Eindhoven and moved to the Netherlands. In 57 appearances, he scored 54 times for the Dutch club and some of the biggest teams in the sport took notice. After just two years with PSV, he joined Barcelona and continued his incredible scoring form with 47 goals in 49 games for the Catalan giants.
Due to contract issues, Ronaldo moved to Inter Milan after just 12 months with the La Liga side and spent five years in Italy. For the first time, injuries took control of his career and he was limited to just 99 games over a five-year span. He still managed to score 59 goals during that period, though, and moved to Real Madrid in 2002. Back in Spain, he put those injury troubles behind him for a while and dominated for Los Blancos.
He scored 103 goals for the team across 177 appearances and won the first league title of his career during that time. After leaving Madrid in 2007, his career began to wind down and he retired in 2011 after dealing with several injuries. Considering how good he was, it’s almost scary to think about how much better things could have been if it wasn’t for the injuries. It’s understandable why Zidane rates him so highly.
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt and accurate as of 12/09/2024
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