Rio Ferdinand left red-faced following his England v Scotland prediction after goalless stalemate at Wembley as Twitter mercilessly mocks the BBC pundit after he confidently claimed he couldn’t see ‘anything else’ but a Three Lions win
Rio Ferdinand has been left rather red-faced after his bold prediction of a comfortable England win against Scotland failed to come to fruition on Friday night.
Gareth Southgate’s men put in a tepid and lethargic display at Wembley in their goalless draw against Steve Clarke’s side.
The result leaves qualification from Group D open ahead of the final matches of the group stage, with the Three Lions not yet guaranteed progression despite beating Croatia in their Euro 2020 opener.
Rio Ferdinand has been left red-faced after his prediction of a comfortable England win against Scotland
The Three Lions put in a lethargic display against the Scots in their goalless stalemate
It was not an issue former England centre-back Ferdinand believed was forthcoming, but the ex- Manchester United star has now been mocked on social media for claiming Scotland would pose little threat to Southgate’s men.
‘It’s a huge game, I can’t wait,’ BBC pundit Ferdinand said earlier this week of the clash between the historic rivals.
‘Nothing to fear, and we will go down and get our seat and watch it. Looking forward to it.
‘England are going to win. I can’t see anything else, I’m telling you. I’ve never been this confident about a game in a major championship.’
The Three Lions therefore missed the chance to all-but seal qualification, an issue Ferdinand did not see coming
Twitter is never a forgiving place and Ferdinand discovered that as users poked fun at him for his claims.
Scottish singer Amy Macdonald posted the five-second video of Ferdinand’s claim with a clown emoji above it.
Another meanwhile stated: ‘Hope Rio Ferdinand enjoyed the easiest game England will ever play.’
Ferdinand was sent many such tweets but did reply to one, writing: ‘Pundit / Fan… easy to get carried away at times!’
But there was little sympathy as one user also said: ‘Ian Wright ”We will win 4-0”, Rio Ferdinand ”It’s the easiest game to predict in the whole of the Euros so far. England win”
‘How did that go for you lads?’ The user then followed this with a laughing emoji.
It is not the first time Ferdinand has made an on-air prediction which has failed to come true.
After United created an upset and beat Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League round of 16 in 2019, Ferdinand believed the glory years were returning to Old Trafford under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
‘Man United might not thank me, but get the contract out, put it on the table, let him [Solskjaer] sign it, let him write whatever numbers he wants to put on there — given what he’s done since he’s come in — and let him sign the contract and go,’ he said.
‘Ole’s at the wheel, man — he’s doing his thing. Man United are back!’
However, United went on to miss out on Champions League football at the end of that 2018-19 season, while they have now gone four years without winning a trophy after losing the Europa League final to Villarreal in May.
One fan was keen to revive that incident, stating ‘Brilliant. So Rio Ferdinand was wrong. He also screamed united are back at the telly. He’s really caused this much of a complex? Wow.’
Others also praised Scotland for the character that they showed in their second Group D clash
Another praised Scotland’s character and stated his disgust of the attitude of pundits in England’
‘I’m delighted Scotland stood up. The absolute disrespect of Rio Ferdinand et al was a disgrace. Anyone with half a football brain knew Scotland would dig in like this. Disgusted with English pundits attitude.’
Another agreed, adding: ‘So according to Rio Ferdinand this was to be an easy victory for England, the easiest game England would ever play. Well guess what you disrespectful man? No luck for you.’