Former Ireland international and Liverpool defender Phil Babb was this week's guest on Sky Sports' Fantasy Football Show, and he regaled Paul Merson, Rachel Riley and Max Rushden with tales from a particularly illustrious career.
Among the topics of discussion was one Cristiano Ronaldo, with whom Babb played at Sporting in Portugal. When Merson asked of his impressions of a then-teenage Ronaldo, the 45-year-old recalled one particular encounter with this year's Ballon D'Or favourite in training, which suffice to say did not end well for Ronaldo.
Babb recounted:
Firstly, when he came into the dressing room for the first time he was really skinny, had this big mop of hair - bit like Steve McManaman back then.
So we're doing a training session, and it's set up - a back four, so it's like attack vs defence. So all the attackers are coming at ya. So this little kid runs at me, and he steps over twice, three times, goes past me, sticks it in the top bin.
And all the lads are like that, 'Aw, Babbsy, he's had you off' - in Portuguese, which I won't try and replicate.
So the next time he's coming at me - step over one way, step over the next - he shoots past me. [Swings arm]. So I forearm chop him, right across - I knock him out!
So Ronaldo's on the floor, and I'm like, 'Nunca. Nunca mais', or something - 'Never more', or something like that. And he's looking at me, and he doesn't know WHAT has happened. The training ground's gone quiet. And I'm just like, [wags finger] 'Nah'.
I've had a massive influence on his career I think, just from that moment. Needless to say he went over the other side.
Absolutely no prisoners for Babbsy. In many ways, he deserves respect for holding onto the story for so long, where many others would surely have flogged the bones off it by now. In fact, he probably deserves a large chunk of CR7's lucrative new Real Madrid deal and all.
