Rio Ferdinand says Patrice Evra ‘almost ended his career’ with Luis Suarez tackle | OneFootball

Manchester United cult hero Rio Ferdinand was relatively faultless during his career with the English giants but also had his share of mishaps in his career.

One being within the first minute against arch-rivals Liverpool.

But this match was different, as it was the first time the pair had met since Luis Suarez was accused of racially assaulting Ferdinand’s teammate Patrice Evra.

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Though the Uruguayan international pleaded guilty, Suarez was found guilty and given an eight-match ban in 2011.

In the lead-up to their highly anticipated meeting, fans were left to ponder whether the Frenchman would shake Suarez’s hand but, instead, it was the latter that refused their interaction.

The former England international has now reflected and managed to see the light of the situation with his two co-hosts on his Vibe with Five YouTube show.

Video: Rio Ferdinand recollects the time Evra almost ended his career

Ferdinand and his two co-hosts looked back at one particular time when the former United defender found himself in a similar situation.

“I went and got some screenshots of times you’ve been put upside down and done the limbo one or two times,” one of his co-hosts said as Ferdinand laughed along.

“Suarez one. Did he not have you run into a player?” he then questioned as the other co-host corrected him by saying: “That Suarez one wasn’t Suarez. It was Evra! Evra absolutely mangled him!”

“Evra was so upset. That morning Patrice come into my room and said ‘Rio, what should I do with this Suarez situation?’" Ferdinand said.

“Anyway, he said what he said, and Patrice asked me what he should and whether he should shake his hand.

“And I said ‘Boy, sometimes the bigger man just says let me just shake his hand or whatever, but for me I probably won’t shake his hand, maybe that’s just the way I am’. Anyway, we get to the point and Suarez doesn’t shake Patrice’s hand, and he came to me and I moved my hand and say ‘Nah, that’s a disrespectful move’ and that was that.

“We got into the game and I said to Pat as the game started ‘Stay calm, Pat, stay calm’ and the guy tried to f***ing kill me, bruv, he tried to take me out and nearly snapped me in half,” he joked.

“All of a sudden, I’m chasing and going along with Suarez and all of a sudden out the corner of my eye I see a red shirt thinking ‘he ain’t coming to me, Suarez is going to be in a sandwich right now, and he missed Suarez and took me out bruv, I couldn’t believe it.

“And then when I looked at the picture after, no wonder my back was in trouble for the next five years, I took L4 and L5 right out. My lumbar spine is in all sorts of bother. I needed yoga, pilates, the lot straight after, it was unbelievable.

“But that’s how upset Patrice was. He was so upset, Patrice, so I understand it and at the end, I said ‘You know what I’ll let you off, but you almost ended my career man, but I understand why’.” he finished.

What happened in the aftermath?

Manchester United won the fixture 2-1, though Suarez did manage to secure a late consolation.

Understandably, Evra was full of elation his side had won and celebrated wildly in front of Suarez, which, in turn, led to a full-time brawl in the tunnel.

Ferdinand understood Evra’s frustration towards the incident and Suarez, in particular, but took to Twitter to concede that Evra’s actions were ‘a bit much’.

“I’m sure Patrice Evra will feel that his celebrations at the end were maybe a bit much as emotions etc probably got the better of him.”