"i would have been dead if not for Cristiano Ronaldo - Jose Semedo

Best pals: Cristiano Ronaldo (right) and Jose Semedo (left)

Jose Semedo has confessed that he could be dead if it wasn't for Cristiano Ronaldo .

The 30-years-old Sheffield Wednesday midfielder, Semedo, admits his career and life would have been over by now if it weren't for superstar footballer Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Real Madrid player and Semedo were once players at Sporting Lisbon's academy and he would have been booted out of the academy had Ronaldo not intervened.

Ronaldo and Semedo

While Ronaldo has gone on to establish himself as one of the best players on the planet, Semedo has spent the majority of his career plying his trade in England's second tier.

Semedo insists he owes everything in life to the Real Madrid ace, who is still is best friend now, two decades after their first meeting.

Semedo revealed that the club wanted to axe him at the time after a disappointing season as a teenager, only for Ronaldo to come to his rescue telling the club if they axed the player they would have to axe him too, leading the club to change their mind.

The defensive midfielder told The Times: "He said they could put an extra bed in his room and that we could share a cupboard for his clothes. He said that if I went, he would too."

Ronaldo and Semedo

Sporting chiefs answered Ronaldo's call, and although he left the club without making a first-team appearance, Semedo still carved out a career in the game.

He added: "I owe everything I have to him. The place I am from in Setubal is not a good place for a young man. A lot of my friends from there were involved in crime.

"Some of them are dead now, or in jail. If I had gone back, maybe I would have stolen cars with them. He changed my life. My family, my children, may career: it is all because of him."