Ex-Russia international who played against Cristiano Ronaldo dies in Ukraine after joining army to escape 10-year prison sentence for drug smuggling

Former Russia national team player Alexei Bugayev, who faced off against Cristiano Ronaldo twice in the 2004 Euros, passed away in military action. The news was confirmed by his father earlier on Monday after the 43-year-old was recruited for the country's war against Ukraine.

Speaking to Sport24, his father said:

'Unfortunately, the news about Aleksei's death is true. It happened today.'

Bugayev was a centre-back who featured mainly for Russian sides including Lokomotiv Moscow and Krasnodar. He retired as a 29-year-old in 2010, making seven appearances for the national side.

He was then caught attempting to sell drugs and was sentenced to 10 years in prison back in November 2023. However, as part of Vladimir Putin's plan to employ criminals on the frontline, Bugayev joined the army and is believed to have died in action.

Rio Ferdinand reveals the time Sir Alex Ferguson left Cristiano Ronaldo in tears

Ferdinand opened up on the incident between the pair.

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand opened up about the time legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson's words caused Cristiano Ronaldo to shed tears. The incident occurred in 2005 following the side's loss to Benfica in the Champions League, with the ex-defender recalling (via the BBC Sport documentary 'Sir Alex):

‘We’d been in Portugal and Cristiano hadn’t played well. He was young and tried too hard.

‘I remember we played Benfica, and the manager ripped into Cristiano. He went, “Who d’you think you are? You’re coming in here trying to prove to everybody who you think you are, you think you’re a superstar.”

‘And I remember Cristiano in tears in the changing room. And I was like, “This manager doesn’t care, man. He doesn’t care who you are.”

‘But then look at the player he became, Cristiano needed moments like that.

‘The manager could’ve been soft and nice with him but he had to be hard to get him to where he got to, and that was the best player in the world.’

A forgettable group stage campaign, with just one win in five games, saw the Red Devils needing a win against the Portuguese opponents for any hopes of reaching the knockouts. However, a 2-1 loss saw them exit the tournament at the group stage for the first time in 11 years.

Ronaldo had a difficult game but was slowly finding himself in English football having moved from Sporting a year ago. He collected 10 goals in 37 games across all competitions that season, eventually blossoming under Sir Alex Ferguson.