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Back in 2003, a rare outburst from Roy Keane at Cristiano Ronaldo led to the legendary striker scoring for Manchester United. At the time, Keane was in his 30s and the captain of the club while Ronaldo was only 18 years old and new to life in England.
The youngster had only just made the switch from Sporting CP that year, with Sir Alex Ferguson signing him for £12.24 million. During a match against Southampton that year, a young Ronaldo had a clear chance to score a goal after the ball bounced luckily for him. However, rather than simply putting his effort in the back of the net, he went for a chipped finish with a flourish.
This notably backfired, as the ball ended up going over, with the ashamed teenager holding his head in his hands. His captain Roy Keane did not take it lightly, with the legendary Manchester United midfielder shouting at Cristiano Ronaldo (via talkSPORT):
"Put it in the f***ing net you f***ing w**ker. F***ing p****!”
Ronaldo was not one to back down from a challenge, even as a youngster, and he responded brilliantly by scoring the Red Devils' third goal on the day. He did not celebrate the goal, though, seemingly not pleased about Keane's reaction to his earlier miss.
The teenager soon turned into one of the best players in the world. He helped the Red Devils to win the UEFA Champions League in 2008, among numerous other honors, while clinching his first Ballon d'Or.
Cristiano Ronaldo asks Manchester United to "rebuild everything"
Cristiano Ronaldo has asked his former club Manchester United to "rebuild everything" in an interview with former teammate Rio Ferdinand. Notably, after leaving for Real Madrid in 2009, where he rewrote history books, he returned to Old Trafford in 2021.
His second stint was not as glorious as his first, though, as he ended up leaving the club after agreeing to a mutual termination of his contract in November 2022. This came after he lambasted the club's owners in an interview with journalist Piers Morgan while making it clear that he did not respect manager Erik ten Hag.
Cristiano Ronaldo spoke about the club recently, telling Rio Ferdinand his opinion on how they could return to their former glory. He said on his YouTube channel UR Cristiano (via New York Times):
“But as I told you, Manchester, they need to rebuild everything, in my opinion. The coach, they say they cannot compete to win the league and Champions League.
"(As) Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the league or Champions League. You have to be, to mentally say, listen, maybe we don’t have that potential, but I cannot say that. We’re going to try. You have to try.”
The Red Devils seem to be quite far from winning much despite racking up the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024 under Erik ten Hag. They currently sit in 14th place on the Premier League table, with the manager under pressure to find further success.
