Ex Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has cheekily ranked Andy Robertson at the very bottom in his list of top 10 players at Euro 2024, despite the Scot being a key player for club and country.
At 30-years-old, Robertson is leading Scotland as its captain into back-to-back Euros, a testament to his consistent performances as one of the Premier League’s best left-backs. He’s been a key member of Liverpool’s team since 2017.
Yet, when faced with a star-studded lineup for a quickfire ranking while doing punditry work for the BBC, Ferdinand didn’t hesitate to place Robertson in 10th place. In a social media clip, he was presented with names like Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe to rank.
But upon receiving Robertson’s name, Ferdinand joked: “Oooh, left-backs can’t get on this list!” – and relegated him to the last spot without a second thought.
Topping Ferdinand’s list was none other than French sensation Mbappe, followed closely by England’s own Kane and the young midfield maestro Jude Bellingham. The rest of the list saw Kevin de Bruyne claim the fourth spot, Cristiano Ronaldo fifth, and Liverpool’s defensive rock Virgil van Dijk sixth.
German prodigy Jamal Musiala earned seventh place, with Robert Lewandowski and Luka Modric just above Robertson, who completed the selection. Robertson and the Scotland squad faced a tough night, succumbing to a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Germany, leaving them at the bottom of Group A as they approach a pivotal match against Switzerland on Wednesday.
Scotland’s head coach Steve Clarke was candid about the defeat, stating in a press briefing: “There are no excuses when you lose a game 5-1. You have to take all the criticism that comes, you have to respond. The good thing for me is that we’ve been in this position before, I’ve always responded pretty well, this group of players have always responded well. So that’s what we try to do.”
Clarke also stressed the urgency of the situation, acknowledging that Scotland probably needs four points from its remaining two matches to make it past the group stage.
He further remarked: “We had to go to the second game at the last Euros with a similar idea. We still had an outside chance with the goal difference. This time, that little safety net is gone. We know that, so we have to get four points in the next two games.”
