Rooney offers olive branch to Ronaldo
Sir Alex Ferguson's hopes of brokering a truce between Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo have improved. Rooney has said he has forgiven his Manchester United team-mate for his role in the England striker's dismissal during the World Cup quarter-final defeat to Portugal. Ronaldo's actions in encouraging Horacio Elizondo, the Argentine referee, to punish Rooney for his stamp on Ricardo Carvalho triggered speculation that pair's differences would be irreconcilable once they returned to their day jobs at Old Trafford.
But Rooney claimed that he extended an olive branch to the Portuguese immediately after England's ignominious exit, enhancing Ferguson's chances of persuading Ronaldo he has a future at United, despite the winger's apparent interest in a move to Real Madrid.
Rooney denied he had attempted to confront Ronaldo in the Portuguese dressing room after England had been defeated in a penalty shoot-out, and says he sent his United colleague a congratulatory text within hours of the final whistle.
"I was disappointed by Ronny [Ronaldo] trying to get me carded and I gave him a bit of a push in the chest," Rooney says in his autobiography My Story So Far. "But that was it. By the next morning I was no longer angry. It seemed that the papers were trying to stir it up, blaming him.
"They reported that, after the game, while I was still in our dressing room, I had tried to get into the Portuguese dressing room in order to hit Ronny. That's not true.
"On the way home after the game, I sent a text to Ronny. I told him to forget about what happened. Then I wished him and Portugal good luck in the semis and hoped they got to the final. And I meant it."
Faced with the prospect of building bridges between the two most talented members of his squad, United manager Ferguson will be grateful for Rooney's admission. It should go a long way towards dampening the antipathy felt towards the Portuguese in England.
Rooney is unrepentant about the incident that left Sven-Goran Eriksson's side with 10 men, claiming it was an accident.
But Rooney claimed that he extended an olive branch to the Portuguese immediately after England's ignominious exit, enhancing Ferguson's chances of persuading Ronaldo he has a future at United, despite the winger's apparent interest in a move to Real Madrid.
Rooney denied he had attempted to confront Ronaldo in the Portuguese dressing room after England had been defeated in a penalty shoot-out, and says he sent his United colleague a congratulatory text within hours of the final whistle.
"I was disappointed by Ronny [Ronaldo] trying to get me carded and I gave him a bit of a push in the chest," Rooney says in his autobiography My Story So Far. "But that was it. By the next morning I was no longer angry. It seemed that the papers were trying to stir it up, blaming him.
"They reported that, after the game, while I was still in our dressing room, I had tried to get into the Portuguese dressing room in order to hit Ronny. That's not true.
"On the way home after the game, I sent a text to Ronny. I told him to forget about what happened. Then I wished him and Portugal good luck in the semis and hoped they got to the final. And I meant it."
Faced with the prospect of building bridges between the two most talented members of his squad, United manager Ferguson will be grateful for Rooney's admission. It should go a long way towards dampening the antipathy felt towards the Portuguese in England.
Rooney is unrepentant about the incident that left Sven-Goran Eriksson's side with 10 men, claiming it was an accident.
posted by Miguel La Rosa at 7:58 PM
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