Former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster has lifted the lid on some of his former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo’s habits that saw him become the player he would go on to be.
Teammates during golden era
Cristiano Ronaldo’s first spell at the club began in August 2003 and he would finally leave in the early summer of 2009 for Real Madrid.
In that time he won three Premier League titles, an FA Cup, a couple of League Cups and the Champions League.
Foster spent from 2005-2010 at the club and shared a dressing room from 2007-2009 as he was on loan during previous seasons.
Commitment
Chatting to talkSPORT, Foster elaborated on the lengths Ronaldo would go to, to maximise every drop of his talent.
Commenting on his training habits he claimed, “he was absolutely always on it, the first one in and last one to leave training. I’d get there early sometimes and he’d already been there. He’d already had all his massages and he’d be in the gym.”
Foster believes that this rigid commitment from such a young age has allowed him to become what he is today.
He added, “there’s nobody else who can do what Cristiano has done and maintain this level for so long. He’s a freak. He had no interest in it [going for a drink]. Honestly, he’s not a drinker. Ronnie has got no inkling to want to get involved.”
The former keeper continued, “he knew that there would be people trying to sort of expose him, or take pictures or get him in uncompromising positions. When it comes to football and wanting to do it properly and working hard, he’s there.”
Foster hinted that his professionalism often saw him labelled as “teacher’s pet” as Sir Alex Ferguson gave him preferential treatment over others at the club.
Nonetheless, the former United man claimed this was accepted in the dressing room owing to Ronaldo’s insane talent.
He concluded, “when he got on the pitch on a Saturday afternoon or for a Champions League match on a Wednesday night, it was invariably him who would be rescuing the team. It’s quite easy to talk glowingly about somebody like that, but it was very obvious that he was definitely the teacher’s pet.”
–
The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.
