Manchester United pair Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo clashed
in epic fashion during last year's World Cup tie between Portugal
and Italy, with Rooney seeing a red card for his troubles. United
boss Alex Ferguson has now revealed that it was Rooney who made the
first step towards the pair's reconciliation...
Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson explained how Wayne Rooney
took the first step towards patching up his damaged relationship
with Cristiano Ronaldo during last year's World Cup.
Ronaldo seemed to gesture for Rooney to be sent off following a
stamping incident, with Rooney pushing his Manchester United
teammate away.
Fevered speculation as to the pair's club relationship followed,
but Ferguson revealed that Rooney himself had a plan to fix
it.
"Wayne phoned me on the day of the World Cup final and said he had
a great idea. He suggested he could do a TV interview with Ronaldo
and they could show everything was fine. I thought it would look
stage-managed and said no," said Ferguson."
"Instead David Gill and I flew to Portugal to meet Ronaldo. We told
him we'd had a similar experience with David Beckham [after France
98]."
Beckham was sent off as England clashed with Argentina in the 1998
tournament's Round of 16, lashing out at Diego Simeone, resulting
in widespread vilification across England.
Ferguson was not overly concerned with Ronaldo's and Rooney's
working relationship; rather, he did not want a repeat of the
Beckham incident.
Sir Alex added, "Ronaldo was concerned but not afraid [about coming
back]. We said we'd put extra security on his house. He said he'd
try it and see how it went. It's been no bother."
In the aftermath of the incident, Rooney issued a statement
condemning Ronaldo's decision to intervene, but also stated that he
held no ill-feeling towards the Portuguese player.
The two remain Manchester United teammates.
