Back to the Manchester United Newsfeed

'That was the moment you knew he was going to be special - I've never seen anything like it': Gary Neville says 2006 World Cup was a turning point for Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United, admitting 'all the negative aspects of his game just disappeared

Gary Neville believes the 2006 World Cup was a major turning point in Cristiano Ronaldo's career at Manchester United and led him on the path to becoming one of the football's greatest-ever players.

Ronaldo was just 21 at the tournament in Germany, in which he helped Portugal knock England out at the quarter-final stage, before returning to United and scoring 23 goals in 53 appearances and 42 in 49 games in 2007-08.

Neville played alongside Ronaldo for six years at United before he left for Real Madrid and admitted it was that summer that the Portuguese star transformed mentally and physically into becoming one of the game's greats.