Premiership: Rio stronger than ever

Rio Ferdinand believes he now has the sheer physical presence and power

to cope with the demands of international football.

Ferdinand has established himself as England’s first-choice centre-half,

with Gareth Southgate, Sol Campbell when fit and veteran Martin Keown

all battling for one place alongside the Leeds United player.

David O’Leary’s £18m capture admits it was not so long ago that he

was being easily knocked off the ball by the likes of John Hartson when

in training at West Ham.

That has all changed now as Ferdinand has gradually grown stronger and

he turned in another impressive display in Saturday’s experimental

friendly with Sweden at Old Trafford.

He will take nothing for granted after suffering the well-documented

agony of missing out on a place in Kevin Keegan’s squad for the Euro 2000

finals in Belgium and Holland to Gareth Barry at the 11th hour.

But, for all his understandable caution, Ferdinand now appears to be a

certainty to have a major role to play in the 2002 World Cup finals.

‘‘I was 23 last week and now, physically, I feel a lot stronger,’’ said

Ferdinand. ‘‘I used to play against John Hartson in training and he was

able to push me around and off the ball.

‘‘But you get stronger as you get older. In a back-three you get a bit

of protection but with two centre-backs and in a one-on-one situation

you’ve got to make sure you can combat the physical presence of an

opponent.

‘‘I’m coming into contact with more players. I enjoy that sort of

challenge. It’s a change. It’s something I have learnt but I’ve also got

a bit more know-how in being able to deal with situations.

‘‘I felt comfortable out there on Saturday. It’s nice to be involved and

out there playing but it’s up to people in the stands to make up their

mind about my performance.’’

Ferdinand plays down claims that he is now the number one centre-half

and insisted: ‘‘I still get nervous when the team is going to be selected.

‘‘From now until the final squad (for the World Cup) is announced, I

want to be involved. I want to stake my claim every time I play.

‘‘I don’t want to get complacent. I want to keep myself on my toes with

Leeds and England.

‘‘It’s still a big learning curve for me with club and country and I

will be looking to keep improving my game and go on to bigger and better

things.

‘‘It’s well-documented the effect being left out of the Euro 2000 squad

had on me and I want to make sure that does not happen again.

‘‘People are now staking their claim and it’s been like that since the

new manager came in.

‘‘The game against Sweden was always going to be flatter than the one

against Greece but the fact that people are trying to get into that final

22 means there is pressure.’’

Southgate was given the nod ahead of Keown to partner Ferdinand against

the Swedes, who maintained their 33-year unbeaten run against England.

Ferdinand said: ‘‘There wasn’t a problem playing with Gareth. I feel

comfortable playing with everyone.

‘‘Each partnership needs work on it but on Saturday it went well and we

had a good understanding.’’