Nani opens-up on awkward car ride with Ferguson following he missed penalty

Former Manchester United has revealed the awkward moment he had to give Sir Alex Ferguson a lift home just hours after he'd missed a vital penalty for the Red Devils.

Back in 2010, Ryan Giggs was United's designated penalty taker, but during a clash with Fulham Nani took it upon himself to take a spot-kick, which he missed after it was saved by the Cottagers David Stockdale.

The game ended in a 2-2 draw and saw Sir Alex's men drop crucial points in the Premier League, but Nani's day went from bad to worse after the game.

When the squad's train arrived back in Macclesfield, Ferguson needed a lift home and it was put upon the Portuguese star to be his chauffeur because he lived next door to the boss.

What followed was an awkward and deadly silent ride back home for the winger and his unhappy manager.

That day he was so mad at me!' recalled Nani to The Mirror.

'But he preferred to kill Giggs, because he had the ball and was the most experienced player on the field.

'But because I was playing so well and I won the penalty, I wanted to score it. Giggs saw that and said 'yeah, take it' – but then I missed!

When we went to the dressing-room, Sir Alex was shouting at Giggs, saying 'Why did you do that?' and then said to me 'Nani, you'll never take penalties anymore'.

'Then, when we got off the train, we had to go home, and because Sir Alex was living next to me, someone said 'Can anyone give a ride to the boss?' and I said 'I can, no problem'.

'When we got in the car, we were not talking for one minute. I was waiting for him to say something to me but he didn't.

Then I said 'I'm sorry boss, for missing the penalty' and he said 'No problem son – you could have hit it better, but it's okay'.'

Nani joined United in 2007 and played 230 times