Sir Alex scuppered Owen Hargreaves' World Cup dream during a chance meeting with Fabio Capello.
When the pair bumped into each other at the League Managers' Association dinner in London last Monday, Hargreaves was IN England's 30-man squad.
By the time Fergie's conversation with the England coach had concluded five minutes later, Hargreaves was OUT at the expense of Gareth Barry.
The Manchester United chief convinced Capello that Hargreaves, who has played just 30 seconds of first team football this season, would not be ready for a World Cup.
Fergie told the England chief he was "a long, long way away" from being able to compete at the highest level, forcing Capello into an incredible U-turn.
It also explains why Barry, who was publicly ruled out by Capello on Monday afternoon because of ankle ligament damage, was reinstated when the squad was officially announced on Tuesday.
Hargreaves had initially been picked ahead of Barry after intense lobbying from England's general manager Franco Baldini.
Capello and Baldini had reached agreement some time ago that they would pick one "wild card" entry into their World Cup squad.
That man was Hargreaves, aware that England had been probing for his medical records at United, until Monday night.
The dramatic development will stun Hargreaves, who was suddenly axed from United's squad to face Stoke at Old Trafford last Sunday.
Interestingly, Hargreaves had come on as a substitute in the 1-0 victory over Sunderland in the Premier League the week before.
Although the United midfielder has chronic tendinitis in both knees, the player is convinced he has found a solution to the problem.
Earlier this year Fergie went on record to say "Hargreaves owes us now, he has to think of his club not his country" after showing so much patience.
Fergie took matters into his own hands on Monday night and that explains Barry's dramatic reprieve after first fearing that his World Cup ambitions were over.
England went to great lengths to assess Hargreaves' condition and were certain that he could get through the next two months.
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