Highlights

• Steven Gerrard left Adebayo Akinfenwa in shock as he apologised to him just before scoring the winning free-kick against AFC Wimbledon in a 2015 FA Cup match.
• Gerrard had opened the scoring for the visitors before Akinfenwa got Wimbledon back on level terms, but the Liverpool legend produced a moment of magic to win the game.
• Akinfenwa also revealed that he idolized Gerrard and went to great lengths to secure his shirt after the match, threatening his teammates to ensure he got it.

Steven Gerrard's legacy as one of the finest players of his generation has already been set in stone. The Liverpool legend appeared over 700 times for his boyhood club and won almost everything there was to win.

With three League Cups, two FA Cups, a UEFA Cup and the infamous 2005 Champions League, the midfielder was just missing a Premier League winners medal to cap off a dazzling trophy cabinet. With 114 caps for England to go alongside this, he was an inspirational figure to many in and out of the game, and is still regarded as one of the Reds' best players ever. And his brilliance on the pitch can be summarised by a story that the 'Beast' Adebayo Akinfenwa recalled when he had the opportunity to play against his idol in 2015 in the FA Cup.

Akinfenwa Reveals Gerrard Apologised Before Scoring Free-Kick

Liverpool icon won his side the game from a set-piece

The stars aligned for the ex-Wimbledon target man as his side was drawn against Gerrard's Reds in the third round of the competition. It would turn out to be the number eight's final season in English football and gave Akinfenwa the chance to go toe to toe with a player he had much admiration for.

England's fourth most capped player netted the opener for Brendan Rodgers' side just 12 minutes into the affair, though AFC Wimbledon did come roaring back and levelled proceedings through Akinfenwa just before the half-time interval.

But in the second half, up stepped Gerrard, again. The now-manager of Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq scored what turned out to be the winner in the 62nd minute with a free-kick just outside the box that was curled into the top corner.

Seven years later, in 2022, Akinfenwa then told a brilliant story where Gerrard actually apologised to him moments before netting the winner. Speaking to William Hill's Stripped podcast, the striker hailed the Liverpool man as his ‘idol’ before revealing their brilliant exchange.

“People ask who the best player I’ve played against is. It’s Stevie G. And not just because he is my idol, it’s because, 20 minutes into that game [AFC Wimbledon 1-2 Liverpool], it looked like he had just decided, ‘I’m bored now, let’s go and score.’ He picked the ball up on the halfway line, put it out wide, got in the box and headed it in. That’s what it felt like.

“Later Stevie had a free-kick, and as I walked past him, as he’s putting the ball down he says, ‘sorry big man.’ I look at him like whatever. He puts the ball down and bends it over the wall. The second goal of the game, they win 2-1, and I miss the chance to go back to Anfield.”

GIVEMESPORT KEY STATISTIC: Gerrard scored 10 free-kicks during his Liverpool career.

Akinfenwa Threatened Teammates Over Gerrard's Shirt

'The Beast' wanted the jersey at full-time

Despite being knocked out of the famous competition, it proved to be a happy ending for Akinfenwa as he came away with an arguably bigger memento. Gerrard's shirt. The striker had made it his mission to get his hands on the kit come the final whistle and went as far as threatening his teammates should they try and steal it from him. He stated:

“I told everyone that I was going to get Gerrard’s shirt. I loved my Wimbledon team-mates but I threatened them. I won’t sugar-coat it. I said, ‘if any of you ask for Stevie G’s shirt, there’s going to be a problem.’ I played with Joe Allen at Swansea, who was at Liverpool at the time, so I gave him a call and arranged it prior.

"I said, ‘tell Stevie that the big man wants his shirt.’ And he texted me back saying: ‘Stevie says he’s got you.’ I told the Wimbledon boys it will be a straight-up misunderstanding if you take his shirt. But Stevie was a man of his word, and we embraced afterward, and then I showed the world that he gave it to me."

Given the fact that the 6'1" powerhouse was once in talks to sign with WWE, it's hardly a surprise that no one wanted to stop him from getting his dream jersey. And the respect between the two superstars went both ways. The striker revealed that the Liverpool man actually wrote the foreword to his book 'The Beast: My Story.'

"It’s mind-boggling, Stevie G wrote the foreword in my book, and he doesn’t really do that. He put a paragraph at the beginning of my autobiography and wanted to write it personally. Sometimes individuals get their publicists to write it, but he wanted to do it personally. People don’t realise how big that is."

Unfortunately, we never got to see the duo play in the same team. But imagine how deadly it could have been. Gerrard's whipped crosses for Akinfenwa to get on the end of? Premier League defences would have been shaking with fear.