Former England international Micah Richards, who has been making a name for himself in the media as a pundit since leaving his glamorous playing days behind, has revealed an episode involving Liverpool legend and former teammate Steven Gerrard.

On Thursday, Richards joined the soccer podcast The Rest Is Football to reveal an episode in which Gerrard swore at him, prompting laughter, according to Sports Illustrated.

Richards recalled the incident in 2006, during a training session for the England national team. Richards was a first-time call-up to the squad, and Gerrard was one of the players who had established himself as an integral part of the squad, having played A-match football since 2000.

“I always have two pairs of soccer cleats in training, one for artificial turf and one for natural turf,” Richards says of Gerrard.

But when Richards went to take his cleats to training with the team, he realized that they were all left-footed and he couldn’t wear them. He bumped into Gerrard in the hallway of the team’s training center and asked to borrow a pair. “That’s when I said to him, ‘Stevie, can I borrow a pair of your soccer cleats, we have the same size feet,'” Richards said. Gerrard graciously offered his cleats.

The problem was, Richards was so excited to wear Gerrard’s cleats to training that it worked out. After training, he approached Gerrard and asked if he could have his cleats.

But Gerrard was too cool. “He said, ‘Fuck off,’ without even thinking about it,” Richards said. 바카라

Richards’ remark sent the talk show room into a fit of laughter. “So that’s why he’s only been called up to the national team 13 times,” said co-host Gary Lineker, the 1986 Mexico World Cup goalscorer and England soccer celebrity.

Richards also opened up about his former England teammate, defender Joleon Lescott, who played for Everton and Man City.

“Lescott once confessed to me in training with the national team (when he was playing for Everton) that he wanted to come to City,” Richards said. Richards went on to explain that he passed this on to then-City manager Mark Hughes, who was also keeping an eye on Lescott.

It turned out that Hughes was working on a trade-type move that would see Richards go to Everton after bringing Lescott in from Everton. Richards says he was furious when he found out, saying, “I did all the groundwork to get him here.”

In the end, Lescott joined City in 2009, and Richards stayed with the club until 2015 without a transfer, allowing them to play together. Richards moved to Aston Villa in 2015 and retired in 2019. Lescott also moved to Aston Villa with Richards and played there until 2016.