Cristiano Ronaldo has hailed the influence that Sir Alex Ferguson had on him at Manchester United and admitted that he always dreamt of playing for Real Madrid.
The Portuguese star spoke frankly as he looked back over his career to date in an interview with Telemadrid and reminisced fondly on his time at Old Trafford.
Crediting Ferguson as being a key figure in shaping his career, Ronaldo hailed his former taskmaster in Manchester as being a father figure.
"Ferguson is a coach who understands his players and supports them in everything he can. He was a father figure to me," he explained.
"My debut was my best moment at Manchester United."
After six years at Manchester United the 25-year-old Ronaldo chose to make a change and make his lifelong dream a reality last summer by joining Real Madrid.
"I always wanted to play for Real Madrid because of its grandeur and success," he continued.
"I didn't know what to say during my presentation. It all went well. I may not have looked nervous but I was."
HungerRonaldo's desire to win has always been part of his game and he revealed that as a youngster he would cry when playing with friends if he was on the losing side.
"I would leave school, drop my things off at home and then go play with older kids. They always called me a cry baby because I would cry if I lost," he said.
"My family always gave me the strength to carry on. My mum means the world to me and she always let me choose what road I would take."
Confidence in his own ability has never been a problem and even after an early wobble at Sporting Lisbon the young Ronaldo soon began to show what he was capable of.
"When I arrived in Lisbon, where there were so many cars and people, I thought I was in another country," he added.
"The ball got away from me in my first training session, but I kept my cool, but after three or four touches, the coaches saw that I was in a different class."
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