Mesut Ozil provided a comical response to a Cristiano Ronaldo-related question in a viral video on the internet. Ozil and Ronaldo played together for Real Madrid for around three years. They had a great partnership and mutual respect for each other throughout their time together.
In the video, a Turkish fan asked Ozil, “What was it like to play with Cristiano?”
Ozil responded: “Ask him instead, he played with me.”
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Ronaldo arguably had his best days at the Los Blancos. He won a total of 16 trophies with the club and also won four Ballon d’Or awards. Along with Ozil, in the time period 2010 to 2013, he helped Real Madrid win three trophies, including a La Liga title.
Ozil has stepped on the field 149 times with Ronaldo from 2010 to 2013. The pair combined to score 39 times. The German moved to Arsenal in 2013 and spent around eight years in the Premier League. Ronaldo was reportedly not happy with the transfer.
Mesut Ozil backed Cristiano Ronaldo during a difficult period
At a time when the whole world was against Ronaldo, Ozil had his old teammates’ back. When Manchester United and Ronaldo mutually terminated the player’s contract in November 2022, most in the soccer world saw it as Ronaldo’s fault. His controversial interview with Piers Morgan did no good to his reputation, however, Ozil always had the Portuguese’s back. He posted this on Twitter in December:
“I really don’t get where this constant negativity from the press about Cristiano comes from. The Media is just trying to get clicks, and pundits who don’t have a career anymore just want to get attention with his big name and try to make him look bad.”
I really don’t get where this constant negativity from the press about Cristiano comes from … The Media is just trying to get clicks, and pundits who don’t have a career anymore just want to get attention with his big name and try to make him look bad…
— Mesut Özil (@M10) December 9, 2022
He added:
“He is soon 38 years old – so what’s the surprise that he doesn’t score 50 goals a season anymore? Every football fan out there should be happy to have seen him playing world-class football for 20 years.”
“I don’t think anyone from the new generation will be able to match his numbers again. He will forever be in his own category. Everyone should show more respect to one of the greatest athletes in sports history.”
Ronaldo’s former teammate Fabio Coentrao also came out in support of him. He said to Relevo: “I don’t feel motivated to talk but I had to because I don’t like to hear what they say about Cristiano. There are ex-players who were nothing, they were sh*t, and they talk about Cristiano as if they were something [in soccer]. They don’t have to talk like that.
It is fair to say that some of his former Real Madrid teammates hold the 38-year-old star in high regard.