“That was a little message” – Ex-teammate explains how Chelsea legend offered everyone champagne before crunching tackle on Cristiano Ronaldo
Former Millwall forward Nick Chadwick recently revealed how Chelsea icon Dennis Wise offered everyone champagne before tackling Cristiano Ronaldo during the 2004 FA Cup final.
Nick Chadwick spent the 2003-04 campaign on loan at Millwall. The youngster had scored four goals in 15 appearances, helping the club finish 10th in the First Division.
At the time, Millwall were managed by player-manager Dennis Wise. The Chelsea icon had done a phenomenal job by guiding the minnows to an FA Cup final against Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United.
Chadwick was ineligible to play in the final due to the expiration of his loan. However, he sat down on the I Had Trials Once podcast to discuss how the former Chelsea midfielder managed the Millwall players.
The 40-year-old said (via Daily Star):
"Dennis Wise gave a great speech before the final and we had a little half a glass of champagne and he made a toast to everyone. If you wanted to drink it, you drank it, if you wanted to chuck it over your shoulder, you did."
He continued:
"[The speech] was just around no one expecting us to get here, what an achievement it is to be here and playing Man Utd in the FA Cup final. In typically Wisey fashion, I remember him going out after a couple of minutes and smashing into Ronaldo or someone like that."
"And that was a little message to our team more so than Man Utd, saying we're here to win, let's just have a go."
Wise performed a crunching tackle on a young Cristiano Ronaldo in the 18th minute, leaving the future five-time Ballon d'Or winner in a heap.
However, the Portugal ace had the last laugh by breaking the deadlock soon after against Milwall. Ruud van Nistelrooy scored a brace to secure a 3-0 victory for the Red Devils and the 11th FA Cup in the club's history at the Millenium Stadium.
When Chelsea legend John Terry chose between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi
Former Chelsea defender John Terry gave a very diplomatic answer when asked to choose between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the GOAT debate.
The 42-year-old plied his trade for the Blues from 1998 to 2017, making 717 appearances in all competitions, and winning every major club trophy possible. During his time at the pinnacle of European football, he had the privilege of facing both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Both superstars have dominated football for nearly two decades now and have established themselves as the two best players of this generation.
Terry gave his say on the matter in 2019, a year after he retired from the sport. He did a Q&A on his Instagram story where a fan asked him, "Ronaldo or Messi?"
He replied (via SPORTbible):
"I always say Messi for pure natural talent! But any young footballer out there that follows and works as hard as Ronaldo does will have a chance. Two phenomenons."
Terry returned to Chelsea last month to take on the role of the club's academy coach.