Cristiano Ronaldo was reduced to tears at Manchester United after being “ripped into” by Sir Alex Ferguson in a shocking dressing room incident.
The legendary Scottish manager signed Ronaldo in 2003, bringing the 18-year-old winger to Old Trafford, where he rapidly rose to stardom. Under Ferguson’s mentorship, Ronaldo secured his first Ballon d’Or, alongside three Premier League titles, a Champions League trophy, an FA Cup, and two League Cups. However, the journey to greatness was not without its challenges, as Ferdinand explained how Ferguson’s tough love pushed Ronaldo to evolve into a global icon.
Ferdinand revealed an incident which occurred during a pre-season trip to Portugal, where United played a series of friendlies. Ronaldo, eager to justify the hype surrounding his arrival, started showboating, which did not go unnoticed by Ferguson. The manager came down heavily on Ronaldo for prioritising flair over effectiveness even when his team were struggling to get a foothold in matches.
In an interview with BBC Sport as part of a documentary entitled ‘Sir Alex’, which will be aired by the UK broadcaster on December 26, former United defender Ferdinand said: “We’d been to Portugal and played a couple of games, and he hadn’t played well, Cristiano, because he was young, he tried too hard.
I remember we played Benfica, and the manager ripped into Cristiano. ‘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.’”
Ferguson’s brilliance in man-management lay in his ability to balance discipline with encouragement. While he could be nurturing, he also knew when to apply pressure to extract the best from his players.
By the time Ronaldo left Manchester United for Real Madrid in 2009 for a then-world-record fee of £80 million, he had firmly established himself as one of the best players on the planet. Ferdinand credits Ferguson’s uncompromising approach as a significant factor in Ronaldo’s evolution into the five-time Ballon d’Or winner we know today.
“But then look at the player that he became,” he said. “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 to get him to where he got to — the world’s best player when he left.”
Having now transitioned to Saudi outfit Al-Nassr, Ronaldo continues to chase the elusive milestone of 1,000 career goals. He will be back in action on January 9, with a match against Al-Akhdoud scheduled in the Saudi Pro League.
