ROONEY WAS OUT OF THIS WORLD
Rio shared his amazement at witnessing his new teammate’s stunning debut for the Reds, during which the young star scored a hat-trick against Fenerbahce in the Champions League.
Even though he had played alongside Cristiano Ronaldo as he evolved into one of football’s greatest, the impression left by the teenage Merseysider remains etched in the classy centre-back’s memory.
“No other player made us feel this way,” he recalled. “I remember looking around at Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ryan Giggs and thinking, we’ve got a superstar here. You seemed like an alien. No one else made me feel like that. Ronaldo made an immediate impact, but it was different from what you did.”
OFF-ROAD ADVENTURE
The sheer joy displayed by both players as they took the wheel of the Grenadier for some off-road driving stood in stark contrast to the palpable terror etched on the passenger’s face!
“You’re insane, man!” Ferdinand exclaimed, as Rooney expertly maneuvered the vehicle, exclaiming triumphantly after coming to a halt: “That was awesome, you know.”
The next challenge was for Rio to tackle a steep, rocky hill, but the Grenadier handled it easily, prompting the former players to cheekily ask Sir Jim Ratcliffe to provide them with one!
