Olivier Norwood went home with Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal shirt after Northern Ireland's 1-1 draw. The 21-year old former Manchester United junior, snapped up by Huddersfield last summer after failing to break through to Sir Alex Ferguson's first team, described how he enlisted Rio Ferdinand's help to make him the envy of his Northern Ireland team-mates.

"Rio and I have the same agent, and I knew he had kept in touch with Ronaldo from their days together at United," he said, after Northern Ireland's 1-1 draw. "So I phoned him last week and asked if he could put a word in for me. I just explained how much it would mean to have Ronaldo's shirt, and could he possibly see what the chances were.

"I was hoping that might do the trick, but I wanted to make sure, so I went up to Ronaldo before the game and introduced myself. He just said: 'Yeah, Rio spoke to me. Don't worry - the shirt's yours'."