Explained: Why Cristiano Ronaldo penalty question saw Sir Alex Ferguson jump at reporter – with daughter of Man Utd legend having to break up tunnel tussle

The incident in question took place back in 2007, during Ronaldo’s first stint as a Manchester United player. After an FA Cup outing against Middlesbrough, in which he won and converted a penalty, the Portuguese superstar was quizzed on whether the award of said spot-kick had been a little soft.

Iconic Red Devils boss Ferguson took issue with that line of questioning, leading to the daughter of a United legend having to step in. Shreeves has told Betting Sites of some “frosty” clashes with prominent Premier League bosses: “One time I did an interview with Cristiano Ronaldo which Sir Alex took exception to and he had a pop at me. I had a pop back and then he physically jumped towards me, and a press officer – Dennis Law’s daughter – jumped in between us and said ‘stop this, stop this!’. They were such huge characters. Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho, along with Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp, they’re the five grand dukes I loved duelling with the most. When you’re going in there to interview them, you’re trying to get an answer for your viewers, so it’s how far you are willing to push them; a lot of that depends on your relationship with them.”

Shreeves has previously said of the Ferguson spat in his book ‘Cheers, Geoff! Tales from the Touchline’: “He [Ferguson] stood up for his players, as I discovered after an FA Cup win over Middlesbrough when Cristiano Ronaldo went tumbling to win a penalty. I asked Cristiano whether he went down easily. Ronaldo is pretty non-committal but says it was a penalty. I certainly wasn’t aware of the impending explosion.Sir Alex comes out of the dressing room and stalks straight towards me. 'You and your f***ing questions, you’re f***ing out of order,' he snarled. 'The boy hardly speaks English, you’re f***ing bang out of order', plus even more colourful language. 'Don’t talk to me like that,' I replied. 'I’m not one of your daft, young players'.”

Shreeves ended up being banned from Ferguson’s press conferences for a period of time, but he has no regrets. Ronaldo, meanwhile, is unlikely to recall the incident in question as he has always been fully focused on the pursuit of excellence – with the 38-year-old five-time Ballon d’Or winner still going strong in 2023 with Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr.