Phil Babb: I once knocked out Ronaldo at Sporting Lisbon

Retired former Liverpool defender Phil Babb claims he knocked out a teenage Cristiano Ronaldo when the two played together at Sporting Lisbon, boasting about what he claimed was an attempt to teach the Portuguese braggadocio a lesson early in his career.

Babb, who won 35 caps for Ireland, made the switch to the Portuguese capital in 2000 - when Ronaldo was 15 years old - and spent two seasons at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.

Appearing on Sky Sports' show "The Fantasy Football Club," Babb recalled his most memorable moment at the club: when he was bamboozled by the future megastar in training, only to respond with a "forearm chop" that he says Ronaldo never forgot.

"(Ronaldo) was really skinny then and he had this big mop of hair - a bit like Steve McManaman back then," Babb said. "We're doing a training session and it's attack versus defence. So this little kid runs at me. He steps over twice, three times, goes past me, sticks it in the top bin.

"All the lads are like 'Babbsy he's had you off' and all that, in Portuguese. So the next time, he's coming at me: step over one way, step over the next, he shoots past me - so I forearm chop him. I knock him out.

"So Ronaldo's on the floor, and I'm like 'nunca mais' - Portuguese for 'never more' or something like that. He's looking at me and he doesn't know what has happened. The training ground's gone quiet."

Just a classic case of character building, according to Babb.

"I've had a massive influence on his career," he added, jokingly.

And a glittering career it has proved to be.

Ronaldo, now 31, spent one season with the Sporting senior team, making his debut in 2002 before joining Manchester United the following summer.

No word on whether he remembers the incident Babb seems so intensely proud of, though.