Manchester United ace Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed he went through the pain barrier to play for Portugal in last summer's European Championship.

Ronaldo finally went under the knife on July 7 and missed the start of this campaign.

And now he is back he is confident of winning the Ballon d'Or for the world's best player next month after his amazing 42 goals last season.

But he admitted he suffered mentally and physically to win honours for himself and his team.

"The problems started two months before the end of the season," said the top scorer in the Premier League and Champions League.

"There were four fragments of cartilage which were torturing me. In certain moments it was like a knife driven into my ankle.

"But I didn't want to give up so I gritted my teeth. And I don't regret a thing, it was worth the pain. The Premier League and the Champions League.

"I had promised Mr Scolari that I wouldn't pull out even if I couldn't give my best. I really wanted to play - at the cost of a lot of suffering.

"Two months of anti-inflammatories on the day before and on the day of games.

"Back at the house or in the hotel I had to rest my swollen foot. A torture, also psychologically."