Rio Ferdinand was booed throughout United’s 3-3 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge yesterday. Whilst Rio has never been a popular player with Chelsea fans, given his West Ham and Leeds history, as well as the issues over the England captaincy, it was clear that Rio was singled out for special abuse yesterday thanks to John Terry’s charge for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.
Ahead of Sunday’s game, there was lots of talk over whether Rio would shake Terry’s hand. When asked about this, Rio claimed he wasn’t bothered.
“I couldn’t care less if he played or not,” he said. “I just think about playing for Manchester United and winning the game. I let the media talk about it, go on about it and create the storm. We are footballers. That is where we are best. That is where we enjoy being.”
Matt Dickinson from The Times then claimed that on the basis of this interview, Rio was “determined to highlight” the rift between himself and Terry, something which our defender disputes. Dickinson implied that Rio had orchestrated the interview with BBC’s Football Focus to make sure people knew what his feelings on Terry were.
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