Wayne Rooney has insisted he never had a problem with Cristiano Ronaldo after his former Manchester United team-mate helped get him sent off at the 2006 World Cup. Rooney and Ronaldo came to head-to-head as England met Portugal in the quarter-finals at that year’s tournament, with the latter coming out on top after a penalty shootout.
Wayne Rooney said: “After I was sent off in the World Cup quarter-final against Portugal and we lost on penalties, I got Ronaldo out into the tunnel. I said: ‘Listen, you’re going to get a lot of stick from the press, I’m going to get a lot of stick from the press, my focus now is on Man United. ‘There is no issue with me whatsoever, I would have done exactly the same trying to get England a win against Portugal and this is a big year for us and we have every chance of winning the league.’ My attention, once we were out, completely flipped back to Manchester United. There was never any issue. I actually tried to get him booked in the first half for diving. I’m playing for England, he’s playing for Portugal, do whatever you can to win. Honestly, I still don’t know whether I stamped on Carvalho on purpose or not. Still. I must have just had a blank.”
