Ronaldo thanks Rio, Keane for support amid criticism from Rooney, Neville

Responding to the criticism directed his way by former Man United teammate Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo told Piers Morgan: "I don't know why he [Rooney] criticised me so badly.

"Probably (it's jealousy). Probably - because he finished his career in his 30s. I'm still playing at a high level; I'm not going to say that I'm looking better than him, which is true.

"It's hard to listen to that sort of criticism and negativity from people who play with you, for example Gary Neville as well.

"People can have their own opinion but they don't know what is going inside the training ground at Carrington - or even my life.

"They shouldn't listen to one point of view - they should listen to my point of view as well, because it's easy to criticise [when] you don't know the whole story.

"They are not my friends, they are colleagues. We play together, they're not coming, we're not ever having dinner together.

"To listen as ex-colleagues or team-mates criticise you, when they only see one point of view. It's easy.

"It's easy to criticise, I don't know if you have a job in television that they must criticise to be more famous. I really don't understand it. It's hard when you see people who were in the dressing room with you criticising that way."

"I think they take advantage of that because they are not stupid I'm the number one followed guy in the world. It's not by coincidence."

The 37-year-old also thanked Rio Ferdinand and Roy Keane for their support: "It means a lot because they… I was in the dressing room with them.

"They are part of my journey in football as well. As I mentioned many times, Roy Keane for me was my best captain ever. Rio Ferdinand helped me a lot. He was my neighbour, I was his neighbour. So very, very good guys.

"Not just because they speak good about me, but they were there in the dressing room. They are football players. They know how players think and behave."

Source: Piers Morgan Uncensored