‘Cristiano Ronaldo is so allergic to dropping Man Utd coach cheated so he’d win’

Manchester United legend Nani once described how it could be tricky living with ultra-competitive Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portuguese pair had taken a similar route when it came to joining United in the Premier League. Both had started their football careers at Sporting CP, then making the move to England to join Sir Alex Ferguson’s all conquering side who had dominated English football for the last decade and a half.

Nani joined in 2007 whereas Ronaldo had already been establishing himself at the club for four years. Nani, who turns 38 today, Sunday, November 17 moved in with Ronaldo at the start of his tenure at the Red Devils. They were also joined my Brazilian midfielder Anderson, making it a very competitive household indeed, especially when things weren’t going CR7’s way.

A house full of footballers who were still relatively early in their footballing careers, the competition was natural. According to Nani however, it wasn’t exactly fair. He told Players Tribune: “Before I knew it, I was looking for a house in Manchester. At the start I was supposed to move into a hotel, but Jorge [Mendes] asked me ‘Would you mind staying with Cristiano?’

“Jorge was his agent, too, and Cristiano was living alone. So I moved in with him and Anderson, who had just arrived at Man Utd. What a time it was. We were all young lads who spoke the same language, and we had so much fun. Cristiano had a swimming pool, a Ping-Pong table, a tennis court – and every day we would compete at something.

“One time we had a quiz with Carlos Queiroz, Sir Alex’s assistant. I gave my answer and Cristiano gave his, and I knew mine was right. So you know what Queiroz did? He tried to change the answer to make sure that Cristiano would be right. Hahaha!

“That’s what it was like with Cristiano. He could never accept losing. Never! But we loved that about him, and we learned a lot from him. By the time Anderson and I left that house, we had become allergic to defeat, too!”

The three footballers who once lived together are now in very different positions. Nani is currently playing for Portuguese side Estrela Amadora after a handful of failed stints elsewhere. Ronaldo continues to be the face of football in Saudi Arabia with Al Nassr and has picked up 55 goals in 56 appearances. And Anderson retired from football in 2020 and is now assistant manager of Turkish side Adana Demirspor.