Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo says former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was his ;football father’ during his time in the Premier League.
Ferguson, who spent 25 years as manager of the Red Devils, had a fearsome reputation and there are few secrets about the famous hairdryer treatment he dished out to his players on a regular basis.
But in a BBC documentary about the ex-manager, Ronaldo shed some new light on Ferguson, revealing the Scot has a warm side to him and looks after his players well away from the pitch.
“He invites everyone to come for lunch, come for tea… an English cup of tea! It was a family with him,” Ronaldo stated.
And he continued: “When my dad was sick in London and was in hospital – very bad, in a coma – I had a conversation with him. I said, ‘Boss, I don’t feel good.’ We are in a key moment in the league and the Champions League , but I say, ‘Boss, I don’t feel good. I want to see my dad.’
“[He said] ‘Cristiano, you want to go one day, two days, one week, you can go. I’m going to miss you here because you know you are important. But your dad [comes] first. When he told me that, I thought, ‘This guy’s unbelievable’. He was a football father for me.”
