Ronaldo cried over a game of ping pong: Ferdinand
Duo were together at Manchester United for six years
Former Manchester United footballer Rio Ferdinand has revealed how he made Cristiano Ronaldo cry after a game of ping pong.
The duo were together at Old Trafford for six years during Ronaldo’s time at the club from 2003 to 2009.
Ferdinand said that Ronaldo’s competitive nature could be judged from the fact that he used to cry after losing a table tennis match.
“Me and a guy called Quinton Fortune – another [Manchester United] teammate – we used to take the mick out of him a lot,” he told Australian radio show Kyle and Jackie O.
“He was a lot younger than us at the time – borderline bullying, maybe, but it was just trying to, like, build him, build that resilience.
“We used to play every other day before training, as part of the warm-up. I used to smash him all over the place.
“He did beat me … it was me and him, [ranked] one and two, like Federer and Nadal. If it was televised, it would have broken records.
“He used to, like, almost cry and that, he was so competitive.”
It must be noted that Ferdinand had also backed Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United in 2021.
However, United parted ways with the Portuguese star after the veteran forward gave an explosive TV interview in which he said he felt "betrayed" by the club and had no respect for coach Erik ten Hag.
United terminated his contract while Ronaldo was with Portugal at the World Cup in 2022.
Ronaldo´s quest for a World Cup winners´ medal started well as he became the first player to score in five global tournaments when he converted a penalty in their win against Ghana.
But he was left out of the starting line-up for their last-16 clash as Portugal ripped Switzerland apart.
When Portugal lost to Morocco in the quarter-finals, he started on the bench and ended the tournament in tears.
After the FIFA World Cup last year, Ronaldo signed for Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia in a deal believed to be worth more than 200 million euros.
The 37-year-old penned a contract which will take him to June 2025.
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