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Cristiano Ronaldo's former teammate Rio Ferdinand once recalled an incident when legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson made the Portuguese superstar cry inside the dressing room. Ronaldo and Ferdinand played 221 games together at Manchester United over five seasons.
Cristiano Ronaldo is widely considered one of the best players to have ever played the game. In 2003, the Portuguese veteran was first brought to the Premier League by Sir Alex Ferguson from Sporting CP for a reported €19 million. Ronaldo went on to become one of the best players in Europe under the Scottish tactician, racking up 118 goals and 62 assists in 292 games for the Red Devils.
However, Sir Alex Ferguson was known for being strict with his players. In a teaser for BBC iPlayer's documentary Sir Alex, Ferdinand can be seen recalling an incident between the manager and Cristiano Ronaldo that left the latter in tears. He said (via BBC Sport on X):
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"We'd been to Portugal and played a couple of games and he [Ronaldo] hadn't played well. He was young and tried too hard and I remember we played Benfica and the manager [Sir Alex] ripped into Cristiano. Like 'Who do you think you are? You are coming in here trying to prove to everyone who you think you are? You think you're a superstar.'"
The former English defender, who clocked 455 appearances for the Red Devils, continued:
"And I remember Cristiano in tears in the changing room. And I was like 'rah this manager don't care man, he don't care who you are'. But then look at the player he became. He needed moments like that, and the manager knew that he could be soft and nice with him but he had to be hard as well."
In 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester United for Real Madrid in what became one of the most expensive transfers at that time. At Los Blancos, the Portuguese superstar developed a never-seen-before rivalry with Barcelona's Lionel Messi. The two legends established an unparalleled duopoly over world football that lasted over a decade.
When Rio Ferdinand recalled an instance in which Cristiano Ronaldo was 'destroyed' by Sir Alex Ferguson
In 2022, Rio Ferdinand recalled how Cristiano Ronaldo once got a hairdryer treatment from Sir Alex Ferguson after a must-win game against Benfica in the 2005-06 season of the UEFA Champions League.
According to Ferdinand, Ronaldo only tried to show off his footballing prowess in the game without any end product. While the fans were entertained by the skill- show, Manchester United lost the crucial match. After the game, Sir Alex Ferguson gave a piece of his mind to Ronaldo inside the dressing room. Ferdinand recalled the incident, saying (via SPORTbible):
"He was trying to show his skills and nothing was coming off. We lost and afterwards the manager absolutely destroyed him. ‘Playing by yourself? Who the hell do you think you are?’"
The former Manchester United defender continued:
"Ferguson was brave to do that. He knew Ronaldo was the key to us winning anything. A lot of managers would have been scared of taking him on. I never saw England managers hammering David Beckham like that, or Steven Gerrard, or Frank Lampard, or Wayne Rooney."
Cristiano Ronaldo eventually won a barrage of personal and collective accolades under Sir Alex Ferguson, including his first UEFA Champions League title and the Ballon d'Or.
