04 March 2023 , 06:30
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Cristiano Ronaldo's timely arrival helped Danny Simpson salvage what had been a "painful" date with Miss California, the former Manchester United defender has amusingly recalled.
Simpson, 36, was in Los Angeles, California on Leicester's pre-season tour in the summer of 2016, a matter of weeks after he was crowned a Premier League champion. The right-back made 30 top-flight appearances as the Foxes caused the greatest upset in English football history to clinch the title under Claudio Ranieri.
However, that did little to help the conversation flow during what Simpson had hoped would be a romantic evening with Miss California. Leicester travelled to the United States in late July 2016 to face Paris Saint-Germain in a friendly in California, and it was there where he arranged to meet the model for dinner.
Simpson was not supposed to be out on the town during pre-season but chose a steak restaurant and met Miss California dressed in all his finery. Unfortunately for the Manchester United academy graduate, things got off to a poor start - but then Ronaldo rocked up.
"We went to LA on a pre-season tour, playing against PSG. We were thinking, 'what are we doing here?'. We normally go Dublin and we're now in LA," Simpson said on the Under The Cosh podcast. "I picked a specific day and thought, 'right I'm sneaking out', and snuck out the hotel, got all my gear on, got picked up and was on my way to this steak restaurant.
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Leicester travelled to California for their pre-season tour of the United States (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)"I meet Miss California, sat having dinner with her and, I swear to God, it was going w***. It was painful, right, but anyway, it weren't going great and I got a little tap on my shoulder. I've looked up and it's only Ronaldo. He's gone, 'Simmo', and I've gone, 'Ronny!'."
Simpson remembered how he had a catch-up with Ronaldo, who was enjoying an extended holiday after winning Euro 2016 with Portugal earlier that July. The pair knew each other from their days at Old Trafford, with Simpson making all eight of his Red Devils appearances during the 2007/08 season - the penultimate campaign of Ronaldo's first stint with the club.
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Danny Simpson had Cristiano Ronaldo to thank for transforming his date (Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)Not only was it nice for Simpson to say hello to his old pal, the chance meeting also helped turn the tide in what had been an awkward date up to that point. He recalled: "I've sat back down and she's gone, 'how do you know Ronaldo?'.
"I've played it down and said, 'I used to play with him', like it was nothing. From that second, she completely changed. Honestly, it was literally a complete different person all because Ronaldo said hello to me, so cheers Ronny!"
Simpson left Manchester United for Newcastle in 2010 and later represented Queens Park Rangers, Leicester, Huddersfield and Bristol City, leaving the Robins last year.