“Cristiano was always there” - Former Real Madrid star Toni Kroos shares one positive ‘addiction’ Cristiano Ronaldo always has
Toni Kroos has shared a well-known detail about his former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. The former midfielder played alongside the Portuguese icon at Real Madrid for four years.
Now enjoying his retirement, Kroos shared a detail about Ronaldo's commitment to football. He said (via Madrid Zone on X):
“Cristiano was always there when I arrived at training and still there when I left. We all want to win titles and score goals, but for him, scoring goals was a positive addiction.”
Ronaldo has netted 904 goals for club and country combined, a record in men's football. He is also Real Madrid's record goalscorer with 450 goals in 438 games. Kroos and Ronaldo played 170 games together for Los Blancos, contributing 16 goals for each other, with the latter bagging 12 strikes of that share.
As for Ronaldo, he is currently playing for Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr. He holds several goalscoring records such as being the highest international goal scorer in men's football (132 strikes) and the highest scorer in the UEFA Champions League (141).
Cristiano Ronaldo has shared the world stage with Lionel Messi in representing football
Ronaldo, considered one of the greatest players of all time, has had a worthy footballing rival in Lionel Messi. The Argentine legend has matched Ronaldo's excellence with his brilliance, winning eight Ballon d'Or awards compared to the Portuguese's five.
Their rivalry peaked when they played for arch-rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona for several years. In 2022, Ronaldo showed his respect for Messi, telling Piers Morgan (via Goal):
“Amazing player, he is magic, top. As a person, we share the stage 16 years, imagine, 16 years, we share. So, I have great relationship with him."
"I'm not friend of him in terms of, what I mean is a friend is the guy who is with you in your house, speaking on the phone, no, but it's like a team-mate. He’s a guy that I really respect the way he always speaks about me," he added.
Ronaldo concluded:
"Even his wife or my wife, my girlfriend, they always respect and they're from Argentina. My girlfriend is from Argentina. So good. What I am going to say about Messi? A good guy who does everything for football."