Andros Townsend has admitted to pestering Cristiano Ronaldo for his No.7 shirt after copying his Siu celebration during Everton's 1-1 draw with Manchester United.
Townsend made headlines after scoring Everton's equaliser at Old Trafford on Saturday as he celebrated by running over to the corner flag and copying Ronaldo's trademark goal celebration.
The Portuguese superstar appeared to storm off angrily towards the tunnel after the final whistle, with Townsend seen trying to talk to him before his exit, and the Toffees winger has now revealed the details of their brief conversation.
What's been said?
“I made it my goal that I was not leaving Old Trafford without Cristiano Ronaldo’s shirt," Townsend told talkSPORT. "You saw after the final whistle, I ran straight to him, I don’t know what he was muttering but it wasn’t English.
“He was muttering in Portuguese and I asked him three or four times for his shirt and eventually he gave in and said he would give it to me inside.
“I had to wait inside the dressing room and thankfully the kit man was able to sort it for me. That shirt I am going to keep with me.”
Townsend relieved Ronaldo didn't make him 'look silly'
Townsend insisted that he only copied Ronaldo's celebration out of "respect" for a long-time idol, but has now confirmed that the gesture was pre-planned with the rest of the Everton squad during their journey to Manchester.
The 30-year-old has also expressed his relief over the fact that Ronaldo didn't have the final say on proceedings at Old Trafford, with the five-time Ballon d'Or coming on for the final half-hour of the game after starting on the bench.
“We were discussing it on the coach the day before on the way up to Manchester. The boys were saying, 'would you do it if you scored?'" Townsend added.
“I said yeah, but the one thing they said was make sure you are winning or it is late in the game, so Ronaldo doesn’t have a chance to reply.
“I got a bit carried away, almost buckled and fell on my back, I looked up at the clock and it was 65 minutes. I gave the greatest player half an hour to make me look silly and score the winner. Thankfully he didn’t.
“[I went] very early, every ball that went into the box I thought ‘he was going to make me look a complete fool’. Thankfully we held out for the point in the end.”
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