Mesut Ozil has named former Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo the best player of all time after announcing his retirement from football.
Retiring at 34, Ozil spent the last two seasons playing for Fenerbahce and Istanbul Basaksehir in the Turkish top flight, the country his parents hail from. The 92-cap Germany international cited injury issues as the reason for hanging up the boots just over two years since Arsenal prematurely terminated his contract after seven-and-a-half years at the club.
The playmaker arrived in north London from the Spanish capital after three seasons alongside Ronaldo in Madrid. Ozil assisted 32 goals for the Portugal international during that period, with his teammate returning the favour seven times across 149 matches in which they featured alongside each other, an experience the midfielder recalls fondly.
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"It was a lot of fun playing with Cristiano Ronaldo, who for me is the best player of all time," Ozil told the Madrid-based sports newspaper Marca. "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."
Ozil has been a staunch supporter of Ronaldo throughout their playing careers, previously backing up this belief during a Twitter question and answer session in January 2021. "Messi has proven himself to be one of the best ever in Spain, but Ronaldo was always the best in every country he's played in!" he replied when asked to choose between the two months before Messi moved on from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain.
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