Former Socceroos goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac has lifted the lid on Ronaldo’s legendary antics as he branded the Brazilian superstar the “life of the party”.
Kalac and Ronaldo were teammates at Italian giants AC Milan from 2007 to 2008, a period when the Rossoneri won the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup.
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Ronaldo had only joined Milan in January 2007 in a $AUD13 million move from Real Madrid as injuries and weight issues took hold of his glittering career.
Even though Ronaldo managed just 20 appearances in total for Milan along with nine goals, he made a lasting impact on the squad both on and off the field.
And for Kalac, he’ll always have the memory of what transpired on the team bus in the celebrations following Milan’s Champions League triumph in the 2006/07 season.
“When we won the Champions League, I’ll never forget,” Kalac told foxsports.com.au.
“We got on the bus and we were a bit dusty from the celebrations from the night before. Everyone was hydrating, back on the waters.
“Ronaldo got on the bus and he had his water. He was sipping away on this water.
“He says, ‘Mate, do you want to have a drink?’ I said, ‘Mate, give me a sip of water, I can’t breathe.’
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“I went to try it and it was full of vodka. He was continuing the journey. It was the longest three days of celebration I’ve ever had in my life.
“Mate, he was the life of the party. He was a gun player but he was a great person.”
Ronaldo was just one of several iconic names who donned the famous black and red stripes of Milan throughout the 2000s.
As Kalac outlined, the Rossoneri boasted lineups that featured “the who’s who of football at the time”.
Alessandro Nesta. Paolo Maldini. Kaka. Gennaro Gattuso. Clarence Seedorf. The list goes on.
Despite the star quality these names boasted, it was how they acted off the field that Kalac felt was behind Milan’s dominance.
“What people don’t understand, they weren’t just great players, they were actually great people,” Kalac said.
“That’s why the club had so much success.”
Although Milan’s team now doesn’t boast as many superstars as it did back in the 2000s, they remain a formidable outfit and returned to the summit of Serie A in the 2021/22, ending an 11-year wait for a scudetto.
Those players will also be venturing to Australia at the end of the season for a salivating clash against fellow Italian giants AS Roma at Optus Stadium in Perth on May 31.
The fixture is a friendly only on paper given the fierce battles these two teams have played over the years and for Kalac, the chance to see his former team in action Down Under is an event he “wouldn’t miss for the world”.
“I used to always say when I played there, ‘Let’s do a friendly match in Australia, let’s do a tour in Australia,’” Kalac said.
“To finally have a calibre of a Milan and a Roma finally coming out to Australia, I don’t think people realise how big it is.
“The opportunity that people have to get so close to these players and watch their quality at training, it just doesn’t happen in Europe. To have that opportunity, it’s massive.”
For football fans in Australia hoping to catch the action in Perth, tickets are available at Ticketmaster.
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