I played against Cristiano Ronaldo on his Man Utd debut… I smashed him TWICE and then he ran rings around me
NICKY HUNT was tasked with marking Cristiano Ronaldo on his Manchester United debut.
The Portuguese icon made his first appearance for the club 20 years ago on August 16 2003.
Just days after signing from Sporting, he came on as a 61st minute substitute against Bolton at Old Trafford.
Hunt, who was only 19 at the time, faced off against the 18-year-old Ronaldo that day.
Recalling their battle, he told BBC Sport: “When he came on, my first thought wasn’t ‘I am in absolute trouble, he is going to skin me alive’.
“I had just done 70 minutes and thought I had done OK. We were only 1-0 down and to me it was just another player.
“It was my job to go and tackle him. That is what I did. I smashed him – twice. Then he ran rings around me.”
There had been much buzz around Ronaldo’s arrival at United that summer.
“We were trying to ignore it but it just became bigger and bigger,” added Hunt.
“It was in all the papers, on all the TV programmes and the internet. It was impossible to ignore.”
BETTING SPECIAL – BEST SPORTS BETTING APPS IN THE UK
The versatile defender went on to face Ronaldo six more times with Bolton.
He failed to win any of their meetings, drawing just once, as Ronaldo scored three times across those matches.
Overall, Hunt made 127 Premier League appearances for Bolton.
Now aged 39, he retired back in February after two years with non-league Ashton United.
MAN UTD NEWS LIVE: Stay up to date with all the latest takeover and transfer news from Old Trafford