Manchester City's millionaire stars were in awe of former South Africa president Nelson Mandela when meeting him yesterday.

The Daily Mail says City met Mandela for more than half an hour yesterday at his children's foundation. They sang happy birthday to Mandela, who was 91 last Saturday, and presented him with a signed shirt.

Many players were in awe of their host - with some said to be close to tears - but he put them at ease with light-hearted banter, teasing 6ft 3in Emmanuel Adebayor about his height and joking that Robinho looked too young to be a professional footballer.