Cristiano Ronaldo was like Michael Jordan since the age of 17 according former teammate

Cristiano Ronaldo's former Sporting Lisbon teammate Rodrigo Tello has claimed that the Juventus superstar resembles NBA legend Michael Jordan in terms of work ethic. The Chilean footballer played for Sporting Lisbon from 2001-2007 and witnessed the rise of the five-time Ballon d'Or winner when he was a lanky winger in Lisbon to one of the best in the world.

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Cristiano Ronaldo resembled Michael Jordan: Tello

In an interview with PrensaFutbol, Tello recalled the time he spent with Cristiano Ronaldo back at Sporting Lisbon. The Portuguese winger had a different mentality altogether, completely different from that of a 17, 18-year-old kid, claimed Tello. He stated that Ronaldo was the best in table football, billiards as well as weight-lifting, something similar to NBA great Michael Jordan, who was competitive at everything he did. Jordan's illustrious NBA career is captured in ESPN-Netflix docu-series, The Last Dance. 

The Last Dance is a sports documentary that focuses on NBA side Chicago Bulls' 1997-98 season with Michael Jordan and the franchise in its prime. It is a joint production effort of Netflix and ESPN, totalling 10 episodes. The Last Dance is a combination of the present-day interviews with archival footage dating back to the 1997-98 season. 

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Tello revealed that he was still in contact with Cristiano Ronaldo after he joined Manchester United. He claimed that his wife gifted him a signed Cristiano Ronaldo shirt on his birthday, although he has no idea how she got it. The former Sporting Lisbon player maintains he is still up to date with the Juventus superstar's games and follows him diligently. 

Cristiano Ronaldo has established himself as one of the prolific football stars in the world. The 35-year-old has scored 56 hat-tricks in his esteemed career, which is two more than his arch-rival and Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi. The Juventus superstar was crowned as the highest-earning male footballer in the world with an estimated earning of €97 million ($107 million) last year, according to Forbes figures.

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Serie A restart scheduled on June 20

Cristiano Ronaldo has been sweating it out ahead of the Serie A restart on June 20. Torino will play Parma in the first game of the Serie A restart. Juventus, meanwhile, will play Bologna on June 23. Juventus lead the points table with 63 points to their credit. Ronaldo and co are followed by Lazio with 62 points.

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Image credit - AP