Cristiano Ronaldo named Roy Keane as his favourite Manchester United captain during his explosive interview with Piers Morgan.
The Portuguese superstar singled out the Cork native and Rio Ferdinand for praise during the interview, but had less kind words for Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney.
Ronaldo described Keane and Ferdinand as "very good guys" but accused Neville of using him to boost his profile, while also taking aim at Rooney, who has been critical of the five-time Ballon d'Or winner recently.
READ MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo accuses Gary Neville of using him for fame and says they're not friends
Speaking about Keane and Ferdinand in the interview on Talk TV, Ronaldo said: "It means a lot because they… I was in the dressing room with them. They are part of my journey in football as well.
"As I mentioned many times, Roy Keane for me was my best captain ever.
"Rio Ferdinand helped me a lot. He was my neighbour, I was his neighbour. So very, very good guys.
"Not just because they speak good about me, but they were there in the dressing room.
"They are football players. They know how players think and behave, etc."
However, Ferdinand criticised Ronaldo for the interview shortly after the clips appeared on social media.
He said on his 'Vibe with Five' podcast: "You can't sit here and defend that from Cristiano Ronaldo.
"Deep down and I know it for a fact, this has all been manufactured for one thing - and that's for him to leave the club.
"This love affair with Man United that Cristiano has had is over in my eyes. I don't feel there's anyway back, I don't feel the club will take him back and I don't think that he wants to come back. This is all manufactured for that reason.
"Up to this interview I would defend him, and say the club have a big responsibility to communicate better."
Ronaldo also hit back at Neville and Rooney over comments they have made about him in recent weeks during the interview.
He said: "People can have their own opinion, but they don’t really know what’s going on. For example, inside the training ground and Carrington area or even my life – they should listen not only to one point of view, they have to listen to my point of view as well. Because it’s easy to criticise. But if you don’t know the whole story, it’s easy.
"It’s easy to criticise, I don’t know if you have a job in television that they must criticise to be more famous. I really don’t understand it."
When asked by Morgan if he felt Neville had used his name to get attention, Ronaldo responded: “I think they take advantage of that because they are not stupid.
“And I really understand that I have to carry on with my life, with criticism or when the people speak good about you, but it’s hard when you see people who was in the dressing room with you criticising that way. It is not good.”
Asked if he considers Neville and Rooney were his friends, Ronaldo simply replied: “They are not my friends, they are colleagues. We play together, they’re not coming, we’re not ever having dinner together.”
But Ronaldo did admit he was surprised by comments Rooney made on talkSport last week.
Rooney said: "I just think the things he has done from the start of the season, it is not acceptable for Manchester United. I’ve seen Roy Keane defending him. Roy wouldn’t accept that. Roy wouldn’t accept that at all.
"It is a distraction which Manchester United don’t need at the minute, trying to rebuild.
"For Cristiano, just get your head down and work and be ready to play when the manager needs you. If he does that, he will be an asset. If he doesn’t, it will become an unwanted distraction.”
On Rooney’s comments, Ronaldo said: "It was one year ago, or six months ago. We’re here in my house, he picked up his kids here and he invited (12-year-old son) Cristiano to go to his house to play football.
"I really don’t understand people like that. Or if they want to be on a cover of the paper in the news or they want new jobs or whatever."
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