Cristiano Ronaldo used to race cars as a kid to see if he was faster

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the fastest players on the planet, not to mention one of the fittest. His obsession with speed started at a very young age when he was training with boyhood club Sporting Lisbon.

The player is now renowned for his acceleration on the pitch and can outrun his opponents even if they have a head start. Now 31, his speed is probably not his greatest strength but he still moves almost like a cheetah.

It has now been revealed that the star used to race cars on the street to see is he could outrun them. No wonder he’s one of the fastest on the planet. Ronaldo now has mastered the art of speed and control with the football.

The Portuguese international gives several interviews, but one of the first he ever did was for Sport TV when he had just started training at Sporting. According to Marca, reporter Jaime Cravo was on the lookout for budding stars to interview.

That’s when he hear about Ronaldo and the high hopes the club had for him.He explained how his first encounter went with the young and talented forward. “I accompanied him from Estadio Jose Alvalade to a hostel in Marques de Pombal in central Lisbon where he lived”

The journalist went on to explain the location of his housing. “The lodgings are, oddly enough, very close to where he ended up staying after winning his first Champions League with Real in Lisbon.At the time, the teenager earned between 1,000 and 1,500 euros a month and gave all his wages to his mother.”

But now the superstar earns a substantial amount of money to support his entire family without batting an eye. But it showed the humble beginnings he came from. But there was one particular incident the reporter recalled.

“Paixao will never forget the day a Real Madrid match was being shown on television in their room and just laughed when his friend said: ‘I'll play there one day. I'm serious, one day I'll wear that shirt,’ he insisted but Paixao smiled and thought no more about it.”

Paixao was Ronaldo’s roommate at the time.

The Reporter also explained how he used to race cars in front of his hostel. His former teammate recalls the story. “In the street by the hostel, cars had to stop at the traffic lights and he ran to see who was the fastest - himself or the car.”

So I guess now we know where Ronaldo gets his incredible speed from!