Ferdinand once feared that the English team's flight home from the World Cup would crash after experiencing severe turbulence.

The former Manchester United star, who captained England, was part of the squad that traveled to Germany for the 2006 World Cup. After England was eliminated by Portugal in the quarterfinals, the team experienced another terrifying flight.

Ferdinand revealed that stars like Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard wept and prayed as the plane was severely shaken during a violent storm.

Ferdinand said: "We had just been knocked out by Portugal in the quarterfinals, and the flight home was as bad as you could possibly imagine. We flew into severe turbulence, and everyone thought the plane was going to crash. We all cried.

"I was sitting near Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and their wives, and everyone was screaming. The turbulence was unprecedented; it was completely out of control. People and luggage were being thrown around everywhere, and nobody knew what was happening.

"At that moment, I really thought: 'This is it', especially after I saw the flight attendants. You can always tell from their faces how serious things are. I looked at them, and they were all sitting in their seats with blank expressions, clearly thinking the situation was grim too.

"I'm normally quite calm, but after seeing them, I was genuinely terrified."

Had that private plane actually crashed, the so-called Golden Generation, including Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard, John Terry, and David Beckham, could have all died.

The players' families, including Coleen Rooney and Gerrard's girlfriend at the time Alex Curran, also drew attention during their time with the team. They were staying at the base in Baden-Baden at that time.

Going into the 2006 World Cup, the English team had high expectations but were eliminated after a 0-0 draw with Portugal in regular time and a subsequent penalty shootout loss.

Ferdinand, who earned 81 caps for England, also suggested that the bathroom habits of former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard were one of the reasons the Three Lions failed to achieve greater success, as it disrupted his sleep.

Ferdinand said: "When I was called up to the England national team, I often shared a room with Lampard.

"He didn't snore, and there were no other issues; mostly everything was fine. But the only annoying thing was that he'd go to the toilet in the middle of the night, and it was loud. So loud that it would wake me up."

Übersetzt von KI.

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