Rui Costa confesses: “We were ashamed to imitate Ronaldo, we tried his feints in secret”

A Champions League and a Scudetto with AC Milan, three Italian Cups and two Super Cups for AC Milan and Viola, 94 games and 26 goals for the Portuguese national team. Rui Costa’s is not exactly a poor career. And the midfielder has always been considered one of the best of his generation, both in his country and in Italy. It therefore seems strange that someone could have made such an impression on the former AC Milan player as to force him … to be ashamed. But there is nothing for granted when it comes to Cristiano Ronaldo. The two played together for the national team and, as reported Goal, the future Ballon d’Or … really impressed Rui Costa.

SHAME – “I have never played with Messi, but I had the privilege of doing it with Cristiano Ronaldo while he was growing up in the world of football. In the national team he was the youngest of all, but he immediately integrated very well and every day he always had a new feint to show us. The truth is that we were ashamed to try them in training and secretly imitated him. Then in the evening at dinner he talked only about dribbling, while we tried to instill in him the importance of team play. But in reality, when he he was not around, we all said that he would surely win the Ballon d’Or. You could tell from the way he trained, from his talent. We had no doubts, neither I nor the other more experienced players. We knew that we were facing a athlete with extraordinary willpower. He had both the head and the feet to be the best. And luckily for everyone, that’s how it went. “. A … full-blown declaration of love from Rui Costa.

BOAT – Which also tells of when he seemed to have made his move to Barcelona from Benfica, but then nothing more was done. “I had the word of Jorge De Brito, the president of Benfica, who with my sale would somehow have begun to stem the economic crisis of the company. With the new elections, however, De Brito had to give way to Manuel Damasio and the promises vanished. in nothing”. In the end, it went well first for Fiorentina and then for Milan, who enjoyed one of the best midfielders of his generation …