Rio Ferdinand proves Nigerian fan wrong on his AFCON allegiance

A lot of reactions trailed Nigeria‘s victory over South Africa in the Semi-final of the 2023 AFCON, and X (formerly Twitter) had lots of it on display, with the Nigerian flag trending.

Celebrities, particularly of Nigerian descent, based at home and abroad had so much to talk about following the win on penalties by the Super Eagles.

For avid Chelsea fan, Frank Edoho of the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire fame, he chose to ditch Chelsea’s FA Cup replay against Aston Villa for his allegiance to Nigeria, which of course he wasn’t coy about on social media.

However, another celebrity took Twitter by surprise when he posted online his Nigerian allegiance. And it was none other than Manchester United famous Centre Back, Rio Ferdinand who held on a Nigerian jersey with his name on it after the Super Eagles emerged winners over South Africa.

The move very much unexpected, was called out by a Twitter user on his X handle, bringing into question the Manchester United legend’s genuine support for the Super Eagles.

The X user argued that Ferdinand’s support comes after the Nigeria national team emerged victorious in the Semi-Final.

🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬 #AFCON pic.twitter.com/7GrfdTufal

— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) February 7, 2024

And in response, Rio Ferdinand shared a series of photos dating to 2008, 2019, 2020 when the Eagles team had little success at the AFCON.

🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬
2008, 2019, 2020 https://t.co/poSQB8PYyZ pic.twitter.com/7q0uktbHXC

— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) February 7, 2024

Well, who could argue with the Manchester United icon?

On another stage of the social media, Arsenal star, Bukayo Saka also paid tribute to the Super Eagles via his Instagram handle after Nigeria’s win at the AFCON.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/bukayosaka87/3297700971347616550?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==