Rio Ferdinand 'hated' member of England's Golden Generation despite playing together

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has named the long-standing England teammate he 'didn't like' despite them winning 49 caps together.

Ferdinand ended his England career with 81 appearances to his name.

The Manchester United defender was part of the Three Lions' so-called Golden Generation, a group of highly-rated Premier League megastars who combined to achieve a series of hollow failures at major football tournaments between 2000 and 2010.

In an interview with The Times, Ferdinand admitted that another of those players wasn't always to his taste and that the feeling was mutual.

"Steven Gerrard didn’t like me and I didn’t really like him," said the 47-year-old.

"There was hate between us and our teams [United and Liverpool]. But we’ve put that all to one side now."

The England camp is understood to have been riddled with club-based cliques during the 2000s, apparently resulting in a devastating absence of team spirit.

Ferdinand and Gerrard joined forces at the World Cup in 2006, which England exited at the quarter-finals stage. Gerrard was a key member of the World Cup 2010 squad but Ferdinand was ruled out of the tournament when he was injured after joining the squad in South Africa.

Gerrard played 114 senior internationals for England and condemned the Golden Generation as 'egotistical losers' last year.

"I watch the telly now and I see [Jamie] Carragher sitting next to Paul Scholes on this fan debate and they look like they’ve been best mates for 20 years," Gerrard said on Ferdinand's podcast.

"And I see Carragher’s relationship with Gary Neville and they look like they’ve been mates for 20 years. I’m probably more close and friendly with you now than I ever was when I played with you for 15 years.

"Why couldn’t we connect as England team-mates back then? And I think it was down to the culture within England that we were all never connected. All in our rooms too much. We weren’t a team."

England need 'a lot of luck' to win the World Cup

Thomas Tuchel and the Three Lions are approaching their next attempt at success in the World Cup, which will take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico between June 11 and July 19.

England will play Croatia, Panama and Ghana in Group L, and the one-club philosophy installed by former manager Gareth Southgate is just one of the necessary ingredients.

"If we’re going to win the World Cup, then Harry Kane has to be playing well," said Ferdinand.

"Declan Rice knits things together on and off the pitch. Jude Bellingham gives us a chance because he’s a big-moments player. A fit Bukayo Saka can win us games.

"We’ll need a lot of luck to win it. The weather is going to be a huge thing for us to overcome. But we’re well equipped to go deep in the tournament."