Toni Kroos, who recently retired from professional football to focus on his football academy, has used his former teammate at Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo to explain what it takes to remain at the top for a prolonged period.

Recall that Toni Kroos, 34, joined Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid in 2014 and they played together for four seasons before the 39-year-old Portuguese icon decided to join Juventus in 2018.

Before Ronaldo left Kroos at Real Madrid, they won one Spanish La Liga, Supercopa de España, three UEFA Champions League, two UEFA Super Cups, and three FIFA Club World Cups together.

When Kroos was addressing his academy kids recently, according to Madrid Xtra, the retired German midfielder revealed that Ronaldo was his next-door neighbour while they were both in Madrid.

He noted how easy it is for one to spot that Ronaldo drives in a series of fast cars and ignore the amount of hard work the Portuguese put into having them.

Kroos revealed that Ronaldo was always the first to arrive at training and the last to leave.

“You should always strive to be the best version of yourself. One of my favourite examples is Cristiano Ronaldo”, Toni Kroos said.

“What people see is that he scores a ton of goals and drives fast cars. I was his next-door neighbour, and I can say that he has a lot of fast cars. I also have one (laughs).

“Every time I went to training, his car was already there. Every time I left training, his car was still there. What he achieved was because of incredible ambition and hard work. You only see the finished product. You don’t see the work he puts in.”