Sir Alex Ferguson on the challenge by Michael Ball in the first few minutes of the derby, "I didn't know the full extent of it until seeing it on TV . . . I couldn't believe it," said Ferguson. "But Ronaldo was never going to disappear from the game. It is a quality that the greatest players - Pele, Eusebio, Cruyff - have all had. You see some of the tackles on George Best - that one by Chopper Harris that almost cut in him in half - he rode them and rolled the ball in the net. It is a great example of a great player. And Ronaldo is like that."