The day when Cristiano Ronaldo arrived at Old Trafford, people knew he was on a legendary path. With Sir Alex Ferguson at the helm, the coach transformed the Portuguese wunderkind into one of the best players in soccer. Apart from intense coaching, Ronaldo’s determination to succeed became the highlight of his soccer career.

Thus, this reminds us of a story Rio Ferdinand recently shared in an interview. The Manchester United legend explained Ronaldo’s competitive nature and how he defeated him in a ping-pong game. And that irked CR7. 

The duo played with each other for six years and won Premier League titles and the Champions League. The coaches nurtured Ronaldo quite well, and his teammates played a massive role in persuading his goals. Safe to say, it is difficult to hand CR7 a loss, and Ferdinand compared his resilience to tennis greats Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. 

Manchester United legend explains Ronaldo’s insane competitiveness!

Wanting to be on top every time, Ferdinand explained how he winded Ronaldo up in a ping-pong game. The defender teamed up with former United player Quinton Fortune and “mick out of” Ronaldo a lot. Moreover, Ferdinand explained how they tried to create mental resilience for the player. Ferdinand explained how it was close to “borderline bullying.” At times, they left him in tears, but only because he was competitive. 

Talking to talkSPORT, Ferdinand commented, “We used to play every other day before training, as part of the warm-up. I used to smash him all over the place.” However, CR7 himself returned for revenge, and Ferdinand explained how both of them were the best ping-pong players on the team. They also compared their record to tennis legends Roger and Rafa!

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Ferdinand continued, “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.” Federer and Nadal enjoyed a rivalry like no other player as they broke various records in their career. It is interesting to see how Ferdinand molded him to become one of the top players in the world. 

Did the initial Cristiano Ronaldo determination fade away in the second spell at United?

After leaving the club to Real Madrid, Ronaldo returned to his boyhood club after 12 years. He returned with a goal in his mind. However, things started heading south. After falling out with manager Erik Ten Hag, Ronaldo exposed Manchester United’s off-the-field problems that reflected their performances, on the pitch. He appeared in an interview with Piers Morgan which became the final nail in the coffin. 

The club and Ronaldo parted after that, as he now plays for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League. Now, he is happy, plying his trade in the Middle East. Hence, those ping-pong days carved him to become a top, top player. Ferdinand certainly has a part in Ronaldo’s rise to stardom. Do you think so?

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