Man Utd coach reveals Wayne Rooney cried over his performance in the 2008 Champions League final

Manchester United's former power development coach Mick Clegg has revealed that Wayne Rooney cried after the 2008 Champions League final - despite winning.

United lifted the trophy in Moscow after a 6-5 penalty shootout win over Chelsea, but Rooney was not on the pitch to take a spot-kick, being withdrawn nine minutes before the end of extra-time with the score at 1-1.

Cristiano Ronaldo had headed United in front midway through the first half of normal time, but Frank Lampard equalised just before half-time, and with both teams continuing to come up short in their search of a winner, Sir Alex Ferguson introduced Nani in place of Rooney in the 111th minute.

And despite John Terry's miss and Edwin van der Sar's save from Nicolas Anelka earning United their third European Cup, Rooney could not hide his disappointment after the match.

Clegg, who who spent 11 years at United and who still has former players like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer drop by his Manchester gym, says it was typical of a man who just wanted to play football.

"After United beat Chelsea to win the Champions League, I was having a drink afterwards and this guy comes along and grabs hold of me, puts his head on my shoulder and says 'I played s***'," Clegg told SPORTbible.

"I said 'what?' and he said again' 'I played s***, I can't believe it', and he actually cried. I said 'why do you think you played badly?' and he said 'that's why I got taken off'.

“It was Wayne. In tears. He gave his heart and soul on the pitch, but it hand't worked out the way he wanted it to and that upset him, because he's dedicated himself to football and on the biggest stage of all, he felt as though he'd let the fans down.

Rooney versus Ronaldo

Rooney was often compared, unfavourably, to Cristiano Ronaldo during the pair's time together at Old Trafford as the Portuguese kicked on to establish himself as one of the best two players in the world.

Clegg, however, says it never bothered Rooney, who did not always share his team-mate's dedication to the gym and carefully-constructed diet and recovery plans.

“Rooney, to me, was just a pure footballer,” said Clegg. “He just wanted to play football. He liked to do some boxing and he loved to thump me in the face when he got the chance, although I didn't let him do it too much!

“It's absolutely crazy [to say Rooney under-achieved]. He had a fantastic career, so who can criticise him in an way at all?

"Wayne recognised that Cristiano was unique, that he was above everyone else. I remember Cristiano was ranked the No.1 player in the world and Wayne was about 17th and I said to him, 'how are you going to get higher up the list?' and he said 'I'm not bothered about that. I play my game, I love the way I play and I'm happy with that'.

“Wayne was just a total footballer. He was naturally fit, a strong, powerful lad, but he didn't feel he needed to take on board all of this stuff [power and conditioning].

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But when he had a foot injury just before the 2006 World Cup, I spent three months going out on bike rides with him, working in the gym and boxing with him.

“At that time, he could beat any player who came into the gym at any exercise, because he couldn't play. So his whole focus was on getting fit for the World Cup. Suddenly, he turned his full attention to what he needed to do to make that World Cup. I was so proud of him, he was absolutely brilliant.

“He even had a gym installed in his house, which wasn't common back then. He asked me to get a company to install a gym at his home, because he wanted to do everything to make that World Cup and he did make it.

“How lucky was I to be at United at that time, working with those two and all of the other great players there? What a fantastic experience."