"Have you seen my owner?" - Former Manchester United masseur opens up on hilarious prank involving Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani
Former Manchester United masseur Rob Thornley once played a brutal prank on Nani that involved Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese duo were teammates at Old Trafford before Ronaldo left for Real Madrid.
On the Under the Cosh podcast, Thornley recalled his prank involving the two Portuguese superstars. He set up the prank in front of the entire Manchester United team. Thornley said (via Express):
"The only one that really gave it to me in the neck was Nani. He wasn't too happy. I got two kids dressed up as Ronaldo and Nani. 'Ronaldo' came out into the canteen, which was 30 yards wide with a door either side, and everything went on in the middle of it."
The main reason behind the plan was the uncanny similarities in the playing styles between Nani and Ronaldo. Thornley added:
"The kid dressed as Ronaldo came out carrying a rope, and he's going 'here boy, here boy'. The actual Ronaldo and Nani are in the room watching this happen. The kid's pulling it, and it's getting tighter; he yanks one last time and then a kid dressed as Nani pops through the other side of the door with the rope around his neck as a dog collar."
Thornley detailed the incident:
"We sold Ronaldo that summer, so the year after I got another kid to dress up as Nani and carry a poster showing Ronaldo, saying: 'Have you seen my owner?' So he wasn't happy with that, either."
Ronaldo and Nani shared the pitch 55 times at Old Trafford and combined for four goal involvements.
When Nani inadvertently stopped former Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo from scoring wonder goal
When Portugal took on Spain in a friendly after the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo dazzled the La Roja defence. He floored Gerard Pique before chipping the ball over Iker Casillas.
However, his former Manchester United teammate Nani tried to head the goalbound ball in. He was in an offside position, though, meaning the effort was ruled out.
Ronaldo was seen fuming as he threw away the captain's armband. Nani, though, claimed that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner was angry with the referee. He said (via Metro):
"No, I think he was angry with the referee! Everyone took it wrong; he was angry with the referee because the ball was already in and they made a bad decision."
Cristiano Ronaldo is still going strong for the Portugal national team. Former Manchester United star Nani, though, doesn't play for the Selecao anymore.