Titus Bramble went to great lengths to secure Ronaldo's shirt when he came up against the Brazilian forward.
On December 6, 2001, George Burley's Ipswich Town, who were bottom of the Premiership at the time, went up against Inter Milan in a highly-anticipated UEFA Cup third round at the San Siro.
Two weeks earlier, the Tractor Boys pulled off one of the biggest upsets in their history when Alun Armstong scored in a famous 1-0 victory over the Italian giants at Portman Road.
But their impressive run came to an unfortunate end in the second leg, when world-class striker Christian Vieri destroyed Town with a memorable hat-trick.
Advert
Most of the Ipswich squad were left stunned as they travelled back to Suffolk that night.
Titus Bramble, on the other hand, left the San Siro with an impressive [and probably very valuable] souvenir after pestering the great Ronaldo.
According to Bramble's teammate, Darren Bent, who was on the bench that night, Bramble was determined to get the Brazilian's shirt. How determined? Well, I'll let him tell the story.
Bent said: “We played Inter Milan in the Uefa Cup at the San Siro and it was the first game back for the Brazilian Ronaldo, R9.
Advert
“For the last ten minutes, Titus Bramble paid no attention to the game. All he kept saying to him was ‘shirt?’
“He’s like ‘yes, yes, yes!’ He’s probably getting frustrated by the amount of times he’s asking.
“The final whistle goes and Ronaldo trots down the tunnel. Titus doesn’t even bother with the Ipswich fans that have travelled over there, he just shoots straight down the tunnel to get Ronaldo’s shirt.
“That must be worth an absolute fortune. Over a million pound. Why would it not?”
Topics: Ronaldo, Ronaldo Nazario, Ipswich Town, Inter Milan, UEFA
Jack Kenmare