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Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand recalled Portuguese football icon and former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo’s 40-yard freekick that silenced the Arsenal crowd. CR7 hit a 40-yard screamer against their Premier League rivals in the 2008 Champions League semi-final. In his show Vibe with Five, Ferdinand recalled when Manchester United used to silence the Emirates stadium. Not only this, but he also recalled an interesting incident that involved an Arsenal fan.
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The 45-year-old was quoted by Essentially Sports as saying, “We used to silence that crowd man. Remember Ronaldo’s rocket – silence. Before that game, you know, some of your fans were feisty, before that game giving us in the warm-up so much gip.” Ferdinand also said that it resulted in Ronaldo getting a bit distracted. He added, “I remember, I said to one of their fans, ‘Shut up! Whatever at Arsenal – at the Emirates. He was like getting a bit rowdy and then Ronaldo scored that goal man.”
The Al-Nassr captain’s freekick resulted in United extending their lead to 2-0 against the Gunners. However, as per Ferdinand, he didn’t celebrate and went directly to the fan. Ferdinand revealed, “I ran over to that fan from the warmup nowhere near where we were celebrating and just gave him some. Yeah, his head was in his hands. Yeah, he was gone!” This wasn’t it; Ronaldo went on to net one more goal to lead his side to a 3-1 win over their rivals.
Watch the video here:
Cristiano Ronaldo named 12th man in EA FC 24 Team of the Year
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The five-time Ballon d’Or Award winner was named the 12th man in the EA FC Team of the Year. He was nominated among his several counterparts including arch-rival, Lionel Messi, the Inter Miami captain, PSG’s Kylian Mbappé, Bayern München’s Harry Kane, Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, and many others.
Apart from it, his Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr claimed the third spot in the list of Most searched sports teams according to Benchmark. Al-Nassr trailed behind Lionel Messi-led Inter Miami, followed by LeBron James’ featuring LA Lakers in the NBA. The teams that secured the fourth and fifth spots are Manchester City FC and Miami Heat, respectively.
