Ruud Van Nistelrooy Asked If He Called Sir Alex Ferguson A 'Scottish Pig' After Fallout

The former Red Devils striker was benched for the team's 2006 League Cup final match against Wigan Athletic.

Van Nistelrooy lost his temper with the 78-year-old Scotsman and it proved to be the final straw in his career at Old Trafford.

The 44-year-old former Real Madrid and PSV Eindhoven star spoke to Eleven Sports about what happened on that fateful day.

"It was very harsh, both ways," he said. "It was me who took the first step... to make it okay again.

"I called him... I felt bad about what I had done to him... the names I called him on the bench the entire match.

"In a blind rage I shouted at him."

While Van Nistelrooy would refuse to talk about what he shouted at him, the interviewer suggested that he called him a "Scottish pig."

He responded to the interviewer: "I called him a number of things in a blind rage."

Van Nistelrooy had previously said in 2011 that he had personally apologised to Ferguson for the incident.

"I had been thinking about it for a while and talking it through with my wife," he told Voetbal International.

"Two or three times every year, I would think to myself what a shame it was that it had ended like it did with Ferguson. I wanted to do something about it.

"My wife suggested I [send] Ferguson a text to see if he was willing to talk and when I sent him a message asking if I could ring him he replied to say: 'OK, call me at this date and time.'

"I rang him and he answered and said: 'OK, fine, go ahead.' I said I wanted to apologise for what had happened and he replied: 'Fine, I appreciate that, when we meet again it will be OK.' That was great to know."