“If he had done that to Ronaldo, he would’ve started crying” - Rooney recalls how Sir Alex Ferguson targeted him in bust-up to warn Cristiano Ronaldo

Ex-England striker Wayne Rooney has recalled how former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson targeted him during a confrontation to warn legendary forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

Right after the first senior campaign of his career (2002-03), with Sporting CP, the iconic Portuguese marksman joined Manchester United. At Old Trafford, he blossomed into one of the world's best forwards, racking up 118 goals and 67 assists in 292 appearances before leaving for Real Madrid in 2009.

Ronaldo played alongside a star-studded galaxy of forwards at United, including Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ryan Giggs and, of course, Rooney. He made 206 appearances alongside the latter, assisting him 15 times and scoring off his passes on 12 occasions.

In a recent conversation with ex-Manchester United and England teammate Rio Ferdinand, Rooney recalled an incident between Sir Alex, himself and Ronaldo. It occurred during the Red Devils' 4-1 win over Portsmouth in November 2009, a game that saw the English forward score a hat-trick.

Revealing how Ferguson cleverly sent a message to the Portuguese forward, Rooney said (via SportBible):

"Portsmouth away, this is with Alex Ferguson. We come in, we're winning 1-0, I'd scored. And all I remember was Cristiano Ronaldo was here (Left), Nani was here (Right). And, He's (Ferguson) come in and just gone for me, gone for me massively about dribbling and not passing the ball. And I'm sat there, honestly, I'm sat there, looked at Cristiano and looked at Nani, I'm like 'You cannot be talking to me, there's no way you're aiming that at me'."

"And then I've snapped. I've lost my head and so I said some things which I shouldn't have said, were a bit disrespectful, and the manager told me that. I went out, scored another two, so I scored a hat-trick, and then I was sat on the bus on the way home, and I was still thinking about it, thinking what was going on, why did he go for me. And that was his skillset; he knew that was all aimed at Cristiano, all aimed at Nani. If he had done that to Cristiano, he would've started crying," Rooney added.

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Biggest Dressing Room Bust Up! Wayne Rooney describes his: “He told me I was dribbling too much…” CC: @rioferdy5, @WayneRooney, #MUFC

Rooney and Ronaldo won three Premier League titles, a Champions League title, an FA Cup and two League Cup titles together at Manchester United.

"People think I hate him" - Wayne Rooney dismisses rumours about rocky relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo

Former England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has clarified that he has no hard feelings towards his former teammate and Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo.

Speaking to ex-Red Devils defender Rio Ferdinand, the 39-year-old said (via ESPN):

"People think I hate him. I love him. I think he's an absolute genius and what he's doing is incredible. I love Cristiano and playing with him. I don't think people realise actually how close me and him were. I think just because I've said that I think Messi is better, people think I don't like Cristiano... Cristiano is an absolute genius on what he's doing. He's just turned 40. What he's doing is incredible and I take my hat off to him. I couldn't speak a bad word about him."

Ronaldo currently plies his trade for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League. Up next, he will be seen in action in a league fixture against Al-Ittihad on Friday (September 26).