Ferdinand admits to placing club above country at World Cup
Former England star Rio Ferdinand’s confession that he placed club above country when he played at two World Cup finals will be one present England manager Gareth Southgate hopes to avoid in Russia.
The 39-year-old former central defender won 81 caps for England from 19972011, most of them while at Manchester United.
He told The Times that having competed against fellow members of England’s so-called ‘golden generation’ such as Chelsea legends John Terry and Frank Lampard and Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard, during a league season he did not feel like opening up to them when they came together for a major finals.
Ferdinand played in two World Cups, both times reaching the quarter-finals. In 2002, England lost 2-1 to eventual champions Brazil and in 2006 on penalties to Portugal after Ferdinand’s clubmate Wayne Rooney was sent off.
“It overshadowed things. It killed that England team, that generation,” said Ferdinand.
“I didn’t realise that what I was doing was hurting England at the time. I was so engrossed, so obsessed with winning with Man United — nothing else mattered.”
However, he added “the managers not being good enough” also played a role in England under-achieving at World Cups. England qualified comfortably for the Russia World Cup under Gareth Southgate.