John Arne Riise has been speaking the time he encountered former childhood bullies in Norway.
Riise, who played for Liverpool between 2001 and 2008, recounts how he returned to his hometown of Molde in 2005, just after winning the Champions League with the Merseyside club.
The former left-back came face to face with a former schoolmate who bulled him when they were children, and reacted in the best possible way.
Riise remained calm and smiled at his former tormentor, but also managed to get one over him.
“In 2005 I went back to my home city and met in the street some of the guys that bullied me when I was young,” Riise said during an interview with Stadium Astro.
“I thought ‘I can be an idiot, or I can just be smiling and happy’, and I was so confident in who I was and what I had done.
“One of them worked at McDonald’s, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I had just won the Champions League.
The Norwegian then ordered a Happy Meal from one of his former bullies.
Riise states that there is, of course, nothing wrong with working at the fast food restaurant, but it was a sweet moment for him.
He also said that he felt his former bullies would have been happy to see him successful.
“So, I went to McDonald’s and ordered a Happy Meal by him. I didn’t say anything,” Riise said.
“I recognised him and I know he recognised me. I was just happy and smiley, but I knew in my head I was thinking ‘in your face’.
“And I walked out a happy man. It was very good for me to come home and get the look on their faces.”
