Ruud van Nistelrooy has lauded Brazilian legend Ronaldo as the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star revealed that El Fenomeno had 'the best ability I have seen in my life'.
Van Nistelrooy enjoyed a superb career spanning 19 years, in which he rubbed shoulders with some of the greatest players of his era while at Old Trafford and the Bernabeu.
The Dutchman switched from Manchester to Madrid in 2006, linking up with the likes of Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and World Cup-winning striker Ronaldo.
And Van Nistelrooy has given an insight into life training with El Fenomeno. Although at this point of his career the Brazilian had been scuppered by injuries and weight issues, the Dutchman said he was left 'screaming, applauding and bowing' after his displays on the training pitch.
'I signed there and of course Ronaldo Fenomeno was there,' Van Nistelrooy told the Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE podcast.
'The thing is he already had so many injuries on his knee, his weight, people know all about it. But then we do four v four in training… oh my god Rio.'
The former United defender asked if he 'would have been screaming', to which the 44-year-old replied: 'No I was screaming. I’ve been applauding, I’ve been screaming, I’ve been bowing. I was like, "okay you’re pulling this off now, you at your best? Oh my, that is impossible". This is the best ability I have seen in my life.'
Ronaldo is remembered as an all-time great, given his exploits at the 2002 World Cup in particular, although in recent years the consensus is that the Brazilian has been eclipsed by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Van Nistelrooy believes that had his former Madrid team-mate maintained a professional lifestyle and kept injury-free, he would have had a greater haul of Ballon d'Or trophies than the two mega-stars.
'Antonio Cassano, he was at Madrid at the time, an Italian striker, he would tell Ronaldo “if you didn’t have any injuries or lived in a more professional way you would have won the Ballon d’Or seven times, eight times."
'I agreed with that. Of course we are all champions, Champions League winners, won everything in the game, but if he had been able - injury, lifestyle whatever you call it - oh my god, you cannot imagine.'
Ronaldo endured recurring injuries over a two-year spell at Inter before he was transferred to Real Madrid following his World Cup triumph in 2002.
Those injuries impacted the explosiveness, power and raw pace that made him one of the greatest young players of all time.
The Brazilian ended his 18-year professional career a two-time World Cup winner and a two-time Ballon d'Or winner.
Ronaldo has been inducted into Inter's Hall of Fame while Spanish outlet Marca named him in the 'best foreign eleven in Madrid's history'.