Man United star hit Sir Alex Ferguson in balls – I didn’t expect his reaction
Iconic Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had an unexpected reaction to being hit in the nether regions by one of his former players
Sir Alex Ferguson saw the funny side after Anderson’s bold move(Image: Getty Images)
Former Manchester United midfielder Anderson once cheekily hit Sir Alex Ferguson in the balls and the legendary boss’s reaction left his players shocked. The anecdote came courtesy of ex-United defender Rafael da Silva, who was speaking on Zona Mista.
Rafael and his twin brother, Fabio, joined United in 2008 at 17 years old from Brazilian outfit Fluminense. Speaking on the show, the 35-year-old told how Ferguson actually laughed off the incident.
He said: “Ferguson was really crazy about Anderson. There was this one time when everyone was in the lift, and just as Anderson was about to look at him… ‘sack tap’. I thought, ‘Oh my god, the old man’s going to lose it now.’ Everyone was just frozen, thinking, ‘This is going to be a disaster.’
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“Then Ferguson started laughing, and everyone else started laughing. On the way down to a match, out of the blue, he did this. The guys panicked. ‘This is going to be a disaster.’”
Anderson, who joined United for £20 million from Porto in 2007, was something of an enigma at United. Rafael has previously claimed that the midfielder could have been the best player in the world had it not been for his love of takeaways.
In addition to injury issues, there were problems with the player’s weight and diet. Rafael, writing in his autobiography, said: “We could be on the team coach and pass the services on the motorway and Anderson would jump up impulsively and yell, ‘McDonald’s, McDonald’s.’
“The guy was crazy, but I love him. Give him a football and he would just play with freedom and sometimes, if he got a good run of games, he could play as well as any player in the league. He picked up a lot of big injuries and then his problems with eating the way he did started to affect him.
“I will say something about Anderson – if he had been a professional football player, he could have been the best in the world. I’m saying this was all serious. I don’t know if he ever took anything seriously. He just loved life in such an easy and casual way.”
Anderson made 181 appearances over eight seasons with the club, scoring just twice, before being released by ex-United boss Louis van Gaal in 2015 and returning to Brazil with Internacional. He retired in September 2020 after a spell with Adana Demirspor in Turkey.
While Fabio played just 56 games for United, Rafael was more of a regular with 170 appearances. The duo were a big hit at United, but Fabio recalled how Ferguson often couldn’t tell the difference between the two.
Speaking on The United Zone podcast this year, Fabio recalled a moment where the iconic Scotsman angrily confused the twins.
He said: “My brother did something wrong in the game and he came at half time to speak with him but came to me. He started to shout f**k off! Rio [Ferdinand] or [Michael] Carrick said this is not Rafael and he [Ferguson] said, ‘f**k off they’re the same!'”
Rafael played for United between 2008 and 2015, before joining Ligue 1 side Lyon after winning three Premier League titles. He left the club after falling out of favour with Van Gaal. Fabio departed United in 2014 for QPR and had spells with Cardiff, Middlesbrough, Nantes and Gremio before retiring.
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