24 April 2023 , 09:02
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Rio Ferdinand admitted he was "embarrassed" after seeing Ronaldo applauded off the pitch by Manchester United fans after his legendary hat-trick in the 2003 Champions League.
Los Blancos travelled to Old Trafford for the second leg of the quarter-final tie, carrying a 3-1 lead from the opening fixture. And the LaLiga side blew United away courtesy of a stunning performance from Brazilian striker Ronaldo.
He opened the scoring after just 12 minutes, firing into the near post after Guti had carved up the United defence. Though Ruud van Nistelrooy got United on level terms, Ronaldo continued his impervious form to take the tie away from the Red Devils.
He doubled his tally for the night five minutes after the break with a simple finish from Roberto Carlos' set up. Ivan Helguera then turned Juan Sebastian Veron's shot into his own net, but Ronaldo was there to again shore up Madrid's lead in the tie.
Just eight minutes after his second goal, he let fly with a shot from 25 yards out which beat Fabien Barthez and secured him his hat-trick. With 23 minutes remaining, Ronaldo was taken off to be replaced by Santiago Solario.
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And as he made his way to the bench, Old Trafford broke out into applause for the Brazilian superstar. The applause grew into a resounding ovation, with chants of "Fergie, sign him up" also being heard.
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Ronaldo scored a hat-trick to help Real Madrid defeat United in the quarter-finals of the 2003 Champions League (PA Archive/PA Images)David Beckham came off the bench to score twice, but Ronaldo's hat-trick had done the job for Madrid. But the fact Ronaldo had been applauded off by the home fans left Ferdinand, who had started at centre-back for United, furious and embarrassed.
“A pleasure to be on the same pitch as the great man. But he’s getting a standing ovation, look. The opposing striker is getting a standing ovation at our own ground. Unheard of. Nah, I was embarrassed, man. I was so embarrassed,” he told BT Sport.
“It’s [Ronaldo's first] not a great goal. It ain’t. I don’t care. Zidane plays into Guti. What a run from Ronaldo. He’s running across there, he shoots an angle, he knows he can’t get away from me there. He knows he’s got to take it early.
"Barthez, he can only go in the near post. I’ve got him where I want him, going away from goal. He can only go near post… Fabien? Fabien, man! (Calls to someone off-camera for comic effect.) Have you got Fabien’s number? Can we get it? We need to go back over this.
“Let’s dissect this goal [the second]. He’s in the six-yard box. There’s no defender within touching distance. But I could have stopped it at the source. My fault, man. I take that. It was me. I take that.
“We’re dropping off [for the third]. I’ve got to get up. I’ve got to squeeze the play a bit. But… Fabien, what are you doing?!”