Real Madrid Player dedicated himself to training

Journalists interviewing 16-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, who was living in a hostel in Lisbon, would never have dreamed the shy youth would grow up to be one of the best in the world.

Now everyone wants to talk to the Real Madrid star but getting an interview is a tall order these days, although he has given hundreds in the past 14 years.

The very first was given to Portuguese television channel Sport TV when he was a youth at Sporting Clube de Portugal and had started training with the first team.

They were attending the start of training at the youth sides of the major clubs to try to spot stars in the making, and reporter Jaime Cravo was told about a young man called Cristiano Ronaldo who had every chance of getting into the first team.

"I accompanied him from Estadio Jose Alvalade to a hostel in Marques de Pombal in central Lisbon where he lived," the journalist explained about his first moments with the player.

The hostel where Cristiano Ronaldo lived aged 16

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.

"When I need something I call her and she puts some money in my account," the youngster explained.

This caught Cravo's attention as he felt it spoke volumes about the boy's personality, who was not intimidated by anything.

Nowadays, the ex-Manchester United player is used to high-speed cars but in those days he used the metro to get to training.

He was not in college but trained every morning and some afternoons.

In his spare time he liked to play the slot machines in a cafe next to the stadium or walking through Lisbon, although the evenings he spent alone in Hostel Dom Jose where he lived.

He shared a room with another youth player, Miguel Paixao, who played for Clube Oriental de Lisboa in the second division until recently, and lived in the hostel for nearly six months before the club inaugurated their academy in 2002.

Life was far removed from the luxurious lifestyle that top-flight players enjoy today.

In the interview, Cristiano talks with a roommate about buying a very expensive console, never imagining that two years later money would not be a problem for him after signing for the Red Devils and then moving on to Los Blancos.

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.

But these were not just idle words and the Sport TV journalist also recalls that Cristiano claimed he would be the best in the world one day.

Certainly his commitment to training - and being the fastest - could not be faulted.

"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," his then teammate explained.

His quirky habits certainly stuck in people's minds and the hostel owner also likes to boast about the star who once lived there.

At Euro 2004 he told a group of Croatian fans but they called him a liar.

Unfortunately for them they did not take photos of room 34 where once slept a young player who would later become one of the best players in football history.