Ronaldo was a 'show pony' - Ferdinand

Rio Ferdinand said his former Manchester United team-
mate Cristiano Ronaldo has gone from show pony to
greatness.

Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was a "show pony"
when he arrived at Manchester United, according to former
team-mate Rio Ferdinand.

Ronaldo equalled Real's all-time goalscoring record with a brace
in their 2-0 win over Malmo in the Champions League on
Wednesday.

But when he arrived at Old Trafford from Sporting Lisbon ahead
of the 2003-04 season, Ronaldo was yet to make a name for
himself.

And Ferdinand, who was at United throughout Ronaldo's six-
season stay at the club, said the Portugal star has developed
from a bag of tricks to a true great of the game.

"When he came to Manchester United, he was a show pony,"
Ferdinand told BT Sport.

"He wanted to do skills, he wanted to show people how good he
was and take people on, take the mickey out of full-backs.

"Then he realised it was about end product and to become the
best player in the world it would be all about purely scoring
goals, or setting goals up for others and having an impact on
games. He's forced himself to become that guy.

"He's been relentless season upon season, raising the bar.

That's greatness right there."

Ronaldo could surpass Raul's mark of 323 goals for Real when
they visit rivals Atletico Madrid on Sunday.