Former Manchester United defender, Rio Ferdinand is one of the newest additions to the Premier League Hall Of Fame list. Ferdinand made a total of 504 appearances in the Premier League and kept a total of 189 clean sheets.
He previously played for West Ham, Leeds United and QPR. However, the key time in his career was in Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson where he won six Premier League titles.
In a recent interview, Rio Ferdinand said spoke about winning the award…
“As a defender, I’m not used to celebrating personal glory – we leave that to the midfielders and strikers!
It’s a great feeling to be recognised by my peers as well as the fans. To be inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame alongside such a high calibre of players and to be able to say that I achieved my dream is special.
When you start your career, you never dream of how well things could turn out. The Premier League is the holy grail, and I just can’t believe I made it.”
Rio Ferdinand has gone up against some of the greatest players in the Premier League such as Didier Drogba, Thierry Henry, Sergio Aguero, Frank Lampard, etc. However, he has singled out former Arsenal forward, Dennis Bergkamp, and labelled him as a ‘nightmare’ to play against.
Rio Ferdinand of Leeds United coming up against Arsenal’s Dennis Bergkamp. [Image Credit: Getty Images]
When asked about who was his toughest opponent from the Premier League Hall Of Fame, Rio Ferdinand said:
“Dennis Bergkamp was one of my hardest opponents. I played against him when I was quite inexperienced and young. He caused me all sorts of problems. He was a nightmare!”
Dennis Bergkamp went up against Rio Ferdinand 16 times in his career and has won 3 Premier League titles with Arsenal, scoring 87 goals and providing a total of 81 assists.
Ferdinand also suggested that he would love to play alongside former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira on the pitch. He believes that Patrick Vieira was like ‘two players on one pitch’.
“He was so big and gangly, you tried to play the ball through and he’d always intercept it. A great character with a bit of fire in there as well. You knew if you wanted a result in a big game, he’d turn up.”
