2024-02-02
One of the last footballers to win titles at Manchester United with Alex Ferguson on the bench was Anderson. The Brazilian hung up his boots in 2019 playing in Turkey for Adana Demirspor, where he currently continues but now as an assistant.
Cristiano Ronaldo pointed out the footballer who will soon win the Ballon d’Or: “He has a very great talent, everything is in his head”
The 35-year-old former player gave an interview to Globoesporte in which he remembers his experiences at Old Trafford and what his relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo was like. He recognizes that the Portuguese was always very diligent and if he had had that mentality he would have been among the best 20 midfielders of that time.
“As soon as I arrived in Manchester I went to Cristiano Ronaldo’s house. I appreciate it a lot. He adopted me. I lived at Ronaldo’s house for almost a year. Because of him there were no problems staying there. We don’t spend anything. Nani and I used to shop at the market once. Cristiano took us to train, he fed us, he gave us a cook. There was a swimming pool inside and outside the house, a jacuzzi, a tennis court…”, says Anderson about his beginnings in England.
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“Training was at 9:30 AM, but sometimes we had to go at 6:30 AM, because Cristiano was at the club and we went with him. Nani and I slept on the stretchers and waited, because his work had to start. If he had 5% of Cristiano’s mentality, he would have been among the 20 best midfielders at that time. It is something very Brazilian… To think that we have already won everything and that everything is resolved. “Of not wanting something a little more,” says the former footballer who joined United from Porto in 2007.
Anderson celebrating with Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United (Photo Getty Images)
Anderson arrived at the English club when he was barely 19 years old and with the desire to take on the world, but he encountered a harsh reality. “I thought he was going to come in and play. He had already heard of Scholes and Giggs, but he didn’t know they were so important in England. For me they were a guy with red hair and a left-footed player. When I landed, Cristiano told me along with Nani: ‘They are not going to play. The first year just to see. Think about playing from the second year onwards.’ And I told him: ‘They signed us for 30 million and we’re not going to play?’ In the first four months in England I didn’t touch the ball, I didn’t go to a game. There were only four of us on the bench, the goalkeeper and three others. In the third month I went to play for the reserve team. I was getting nervous: ‘They signed me from a team where I was number 10, to stay here just training and playing in the B team?’ Then, in a game against Wigan, we had several people injured and I was on the bench, but then Scholes was injured and the only one who could come on was me. Ferguson put me on, we won the game and I was the best on the field. After that I didn’t miss any more, I went to all the games. We had a lot of quality, but there were few players. Our team had a handsome player, an uglier player, a dirty player, a straight player… there was a mix of championship teams. In our time, we didn’t even have Instagram. If we had Instagram…. I’d be screwed. Because we did so much shit… but we always figured it out.”
Anderson with Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani at Manchester United.
THE DAY HE MET FERGUSON
“The first time I saw Ferguson? The first time I took a private plane, it was to go to Manchester. Everything is dark in the city at four in the afternoon. There were the photographers. Then I see a little man coming to talk to me, wearing flip flops. I did not understand anything. Then my mother told me: ‘That’s your coach.’ I was surprised. I shook his hand, and from there a great affection and friendship arose.”
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“He was more than a coach and a player. He made me understand things. He controlled Manchester 100%. One day I arrived late from training, when Evra told me: ‘Bah, black man, the man is leaving.’ I thought it was a joke, but he said he was serious. Then comes that chill, that sadness in your heart. Then he (Ferguson) looked at me and I told him to stop doing this crazy thing. He shook my hand and said, ‘Thank you, son. Thank you for everything and for being this wonderful person. Because he cursed you often. Telling you that you are a fantastic person, golden boy.’ Then I started to cry. I came home very sad. That year there was a feeling that the club was dead. Me, Evra, Welbeck sat down and said: ‘Manchester is over.’ Ferguson knew when to give you love and curse you in your face if necessary and make you cry in front of everyone. I have seen several players end up crying. Crying with anger. There was no player who earned more salary than him or had more say than him. The club was what it was thanks to him.”
Anderson reveals that there is a WhatsApp group with the members of that squad: Evra, Ferdinand, Rooney, Nani, Carrick, Tevez, Ji-Sun Park, Chicharito and many others… The 2008 Champions League champions. In which the Brazilian had a prominent role.
“At the end of extra time, Giggs looks at Ferguson and says, ‘Put on Anderson, he takes penalties well.’ I was 18 years old. Ten years had passed since Manchester won the Champions League. I entered the field and the game ended at that moment. I thought, ‘Fuck.’ I was the seventh or sixth to pitch. Cristiano, our best player, made the first mistake. In the last penalty, Terry also misses. In my time I never had such a long walk in my life. I wanted it to end soon. It crossed my mind that I suffered a lot during my life. Thinking that I am in the best moment of my life, that God has blessed me to be here. But I couldn’t breathe. Cech opened his arms. This goalkeeper is an animal, very big. I thought he was going to close his eyes and let go of his foot. If he enters, he enters. I kicked him and the ball went close to his hand, but he went in. Then came the last penalty, Anelka made a mistake and we became champions. “I took the penalty without touching the ball first.”
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2024-02-02 19:10:46
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