Cristiano Ronaldo has spoken of his admiration for Wayne Rooney -- and says he could see himself playing alongside his former Manchester United teammate again one day.
The Real Madrid star made his name at United, moving to Old Trafford from Sporting Lisbon in 2003 -- 12 months before Rooney arrived from Everton.
The attacking duo played their formative years in the game together -- winning the Champions League, Premier League three times, two League Cups and the Club World Cup in six years together with the Red Devils.
And Ronaldo still holds a player he calls "Pitbull" in the highest regard.
Rooney's record-breaking exploits with England -- he surpassed Sir Bobby Charlton's all-time goals tally with his 50th international strike against Switzerland this month -- and his journey from a child growing up on Merseyside to global superstar will be chronicled in "Rooney: The Man behind the Goals" on BBC1 on Monday, Oct. 5 at 9pm.
Ronaldo, speaking to the documentary host Gary Lineker in quotes reported by The Sun, said: "I miss playing with Rooney. Maybe we will play together again one day.
"He was the kid of England, everyone loved him. He was so powerful I was calling him 'Pitbull.' The power of Wayne Rooney is his mentality and strength and he never stops.
"He's a fantastic team player and he scores. He's a fantastic boy and he helped me a lot when he came to join us in Manchester."
Ronaldo insists there is no bad feeling over the incident at the 2006 World Cup in Germany when Rooney was sent off, with the Portuguese star winking to his bench after the red card was shown.
He added: "I don't regret what I did because when you play for your country, you defend your colours so... I didn't do anything bad.
"He understood my point of view, let's speak about the present, let's win trophies, let's play together like we did.
"We were still friends. People create big dramas that never exist."