Cristiano Ronaldo and Richard Hughes are two of the best players in the world. The former won five Ballons d'Or, while the latter had a modest career. What is it that they all have in common? In August 2007, they met on the pitch with the Portuguese who sees red. The Scotsman... will never forget that moment...
What is it that they all have in common? They first met on the pitch in August 2007, wearing Manchester United and Portsmouth shirts, respectively. Surprisingly, it did not go well for the Portuguese, who was sent off in that match for head-butting his opponent. As Hughes revealed that a single moment was worth... a career.
How exactly did Hughes encounter CR7?
Photo: dailymail.co.uk
Ronaldo has faced many defenders throughout his career, all of whom have no doubt rated him as their toughest opponent after their encounter.
When one of the defenders landed a headbutt on him, Ronaldo was shown a red card 14 years ago for landing one on Richard Hughes.
Hughes came on late in the game to bolster Pompey's defense, which held United to a 1-1 draw despite the hosts being reduced to ten men.
Ronaldo became enraged by the situation and remarked to Hughes, who now considers it a career highlight. And...the Portugese' red card resulted in him being suspended for the following game.
“I’m not someone who scored loads of goals, so I have to remember other landmarks. Should I ever meet people who don’t necessarily remember me playing Premier League football, I can always tell them that one of the game’s greats headbutted me". Huge stated.
The surprising reaction of Sir Alex Ferguson at the time
Photo: laguiadelvaron
Sir Alex Ferguson was dissatisfied with the striker. Not because of the red card, but because of the incident that occurred with Hughes.
"Sir Alex Ferguson afterward said Ronaldo shouldn’t get involved with inferior players," Hughes added.
"He was absolutely right, I am an inferior player. Did I take offense?"
"Well, 99 percent of the footballing world is inferior to Cristiano Ronaldo, so I had absolutely no problem with that."
How did Hughes anger CR7?
Photo: newsweek
Even though Ronaldo wasn't having a particularly good game, he posed a significant threat during set-pieces and corners. Hughes was given the task of marking the Portuguese forward, and that's when everything went wrong.
Hughes was supposed to mark Ronaldo's run, and he purposefully moved towards him, colliding with him as the ball flew past them. Although it appeared to be an accident at first, Hughes revealed that it was not.
Hughes also mentioned how he was obstructing Ronaldo's ability to get a good jump on the ball by blocking his path. He was walking away because he didn't want to get into a fight with Ronaldo. Ronaldo, on the other hand, attempted to confront him and was sent off after accidentally head-butting him.
“He knew what I was up to – I was blocking his ability to get a run on the cross. Now I wasn’t interested in a head-to-head altercation, so he had to come in a little closer – and, when he did, he propped against the side of my head. He didn’t mean to headbutt me, but went in aggressively and ended up doing just that,”
Hughes' recent post on social media
He wrote: "That's as ridiculous as it is disrespectful. @Cristiano is indisputably one of the greatest players in the history of the game. An absolute phenomenon."
With a brace in United's 3-2 win over Arsenal on Thursday, Ronaldo reached 801 goals for club and country.
He became the first player to reach that number of goals at the highest level, adding to his record as the all-time leading scorer in men's international football, the Champions League, and Real Madrid.
