Sir Alex Ferguson and his squad were delighted to meet
one of the world's greatest-ever players on Friday when Diego
Maradona joined them at Carrington.
The United players trained in front of the newly-appointed
Argentina coach, who was keen to see how Carlos Tevez is shaping up
ahead of this month's international friendly against Scotland at
Hampden Park.
Birthday boy Rio Ferdinand, 30 today, said: "We were like
schoolkids around Maradona. We were all clamouring to get pictures
taken with him.
"He came and watched us train and I think the gaffer might like him
to come down every day, the way it raised everyone's standards!
Everyone was trying to impress him.
"He is one of my heroes, if not the shining beacon when I was a
kid. I had all his videos and loved watching him. He was a great
player - a great team player and a great individual
player.
"It was nice to shake his hand. It made my birthday, actually. I
hope he goes back to Argentina and tells people he saw a great
player in Rio Ferdinand!"
