Cristiano Ronaldo XI: 10 best players he has played with
Being one of the best players in the world certainly has its perks, and playing alongside a string of world class players is one of them. From being an adolescent, expeditious-pacey winger at Sporting to a two-time UEFA Champions League winner with Manchester United and Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo has come a long way.But, no matter how adept of a player you are, you will always need the support of your teammates, and Ronaldo has always been marginally heaven-sent with that.In this slideshow, we have tried to take a look back the 10 best players that he has played with in every position, and made a football XI with it:*Updated in 2015
#1 Substitutes
It was never going to be easy to compile an eleven out of all of the players that Cristiano Ronaldo had played with, which meant many players had to be left out including the likes of Portugal legend Luis Figo and former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar among other names.
These are the players who narrowly missed out from being in the XI:
Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United): When you have to choose between Edwin van der Sar and Iker Casillas, there is just no explanation. Iker Casillas has somewhat been more of a better goalkeeper individually, thus finding his place in the team.
Luis Figo (Portugal): Luis Figo has to be individually the best player Cristiano Ronaldo has perhaps played with Luis Figo has to individually the best player Cristiano Ronaldo has perhaps played with, but since both of the two players flourished in two different eras, we had to sit Figo out of the line-up. His position was additionally conflicting with the line-up since we had to accommodate both Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs in the team.
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United): Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo were two sides of the coin for Manchester United, and their partnership was one of the most lethal ones in the Premier League. However, individually Rooney just doesn't make the cut in this already star-studded line-up.
Ricardo Kaka (Real Madrid): Had we been talking about the Kaka that stunned the world with his brilliance at Milan, he would be been the obvious name for the playmaker position. But, due to his poor show at Madrid, we had to keep him out of the starting XI.
Ricardo Carvalho (Real Madrid/Portugal): A rock-solid defender, Ricardo Carvalho has partnered Cristiano Ronaldo in both the white and red jersey.
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United): Despite Ruud van Nistelrooy’s feud with Ronaldo which ultimately resulted in his departure from Manchester United, his sheer quality in front of the goal compels us to include him in the team.
Roy Keane (Manchester United): A no-nonsense of a player and probably the greatest Manchester United captain, Roy Keane misses out from the team only due to the fact that he has played fewer number of matches with Ronaldo in comparison to the other central midfielders.