Former English international, Rio Ferdinand, now 42, said he had gone through one of the biggest dramas of his career on the homecoming flight after his elimination against Portugal at the 2006 World Cup, held in Germany.
«We had just been eliminated by Portugal in the quarter-finals and had the worst return flight imaginable. We got caught in a terrible time and everyone thought we were going to fall. We were all crying. He was sitting next to Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard and their women just screamed. It was turmoil on another level. It was a mental thing, but there was baggage everywhere and no one knew what was happening. I looked at the flight attendants and really weighed: ‘we are in trouble’, he said, quoted by British newspaper The Sun.
Rio Ferdinand even acknowledged that he feared the loss of one of the best generations of footballers in the country, as players like Frank Lampard, John Terry, or David Beckham were on the flight.
England were eliminated by Portugal in the penalty shoot-out after a 0-0 draw at the end of the match, marked by the dismissal of Wayne Rooney.
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