Former Real Madrid talisman Mesut Ozil reflected on his time playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, revealing it was a pleasure to work with the striker. Cristiano Ronaldo, the all-time leading scorer for Real Madrid (450 goals in 438 games), teamed up for three seasons between 2010 and 2013 with the recently retired German playmaker.
Ronaldo and Ozil appeared to be operating at the same wavelength, effortlessly finding one another on the field. Together, they scored an astounding 39 goals in 149 games for the Los Blancos helping them win a La Liga title, a Copa del Rey and a Spanish Super Cup in that time. Ozil was then shipped out to Arsenal for €47m in the summer of 2013, a year before he won the World Cup with Germany.
I assisted and he scored – Ozil on playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo
Mesut Ozil assisted an impressive 27 times to Cristiano Ronaldo during his three seasons at Real Madrid, with only Karim Benzema having provided more assists to the Portugal captain than the German (31 in 10 seasons). Ozil talked about playing alongside the Al Nassr in an interview with the Spanish publication MARCA. The former Arsenal player praised Ronaldo as the greatest player ever and said it was an honour to play with such a skilled goal scorer. He said:
“It was a lot of fun playing with Cristiano Ronaldo, who for me is the best player of all time. We both understood each other very well on the pitch, it was perfect. I assisted and he scored. Giving passes to a player who almost never missed was a gift.”
However, it was not only Ozil who enjoyed playing alongside the five-time Ballon d’Or winner. The sentiment was shared by Cristiano Ronaldo himself as well, who had even expressed his anger at Ozil’s sale to Arsenal in the summer of 2013. According to Spanish newspaper AS, Ronaldo had told his Portugal teammates reporters:
“The sale of Ozil is very bad news for me. He was the player who best knew my moves in front of goal…I’m angry about Ozil leaving.”
On March 22, Ozil, 34, decided to hang up his boots from the game. He made the announcement on social media. Over the course of his senior career, he played for Schalke, Werder Bremen, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Fenerbahce, and Basaksehir. He was also crucial to Germany’s victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Meanwhile, Roberto Martinez’s Portugal faced Liechtenstein in their opening 2024 European Championship qualifier on Thursday, and Cristiano Ronaldo was named to the starting lineup, representing the Selecaos for the first time since the World Cup. He created history by appearing for Portugal in his 197th game as no player in history has played in as many international games for their nation.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to commemorate the momentous occasion, helping the EURO 2016 champions in a 4-0 triumph at Lisbon’s Estadio Jose Alvalade. The former Real Madrid star acknowledged his joy after surpassing all-time records for most international appearances following the game. In the 51st minute, Ronaldo converted a penalty to record his first goal. After twelve minutes, he struck a strong free kick that went into the top corner. The other two goals came from Bernardo Silva (47′) and Joao Cancelo (8′).