“I played with Figo, Romario, Zidane, Rivaldo, but nobody was like him”

Brazil legend Ronaldo once picked former Belgian forward Luc Nilis as his best-ever teammate. The two shared the pitch with PSV Eindhoven for two seasons, winning the KNVB Cup in 1996.

Ronaldo left the Eredivisie to join Barcelona in 1996 before moving to Inter Milan the following year. He was back in LaLiga with Real Madrid in the summer of 2002, fresh from winning the FIFA World Cup.

By then, he was already sharing the pitch with the likes of Romario and Rivaldo for the national team. At the Santiago Bernabeu, he played alongside some legends, including Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo.

However, in an interview with Sport TV earlier this year, the Brazilian insisted that none of his teammates were better than Luc Nilis.

“I played with people like Figo, Romario, Zidane, Rivaldo, Djorkaeff and Raul, but nobody was like him. He was simply fantastic, certainly the best teammate I’ve ever had,” said Ronaldo.

Nilis first rose to prominence with Anderlecht, winning a cabinet full of trophies, including four Belgian First Division titles. The Belgian forward left the club in 1994 to join PSV, where he took his game to a higher level.

He scored 133 goals from 212 games for the Dutch giants, winning the Eredivisie twice, among other silverware. Nilis left the Philips Stadion in 2000 to join Aston Villa. Unfortunately, he suffered a career-ending injury at Villa Park after just five games.

How many Ballons d’Or has Ronaldo won?

Ronaldo Nazario is undoubtedly one of the greatest footballers to step foot on a football pitch. The Brazilian won his first Ballon d’Or as a rising star in 1997 during his time with Inter Milan.

He spent five seasons with Inter, scoring 59 goals from 99 games before Real Madrid came calling in 2002. Ronaldo was part of the fabled Galacticos team that caught the imagination of fans worldwide.

He won his second Ballon d’Or that year and is among just 10 players – including just one Brazilian – to win the award more than once.

After five seasons at the Santiago Bernabeu, Ronaldo joined AC Milan. Following two seasons with the Serie A giants, he returned to his nation to join Corinthians, where he retired in 2011. The legendary Brazilian owns his boyhood club Cruzeiro and Spanish side Real Valladolid.

Edited by Samya Majumdar