Sir Alex Ferguson could be out of pocket for the second time
this season if Wayne Rooney can win his bet with the Reds
boss.
Cristiano Ronaldo has already won his wager with Sir Alex after
surpassing the 15-goal mark earlier in the campaign. The Portuguese
winger has lost several bets with the manager in recent seasons,
but won this season. And now Rooney is looking to take more cash
off Sir Alex.
"People have criticised me for not scoring enough, and it does
bother me when I'm not hitting the back of the net," Rooney
admitted recently.
The critiscism is almost dumbfounding when you consider that - by
trade, a support striker - he is United's top scorer with 23 goals
already this season, and can lay claim to being the team's highest
assist-maker.
"I'm on a nice little run and hopefully I can keep it going and win
the bet I've had with the manager," he adds. "There's not a lot of
money involved, but it's a nice little incentive. The most
important thing is that the team keeps winning, but if I am scoring
goals then I'm doing my bit.
"I've now got 23 for the season and I really think 25 is attainable
for me. Hopefully I might even score more than that."
Rooney will hope to take a step closer to that total when United
travel to Italy this week to face AC Milan at the Giuseppe
Meazza.
The 21-year-old scored twice, including the potentially crucial
winner, in the 3-2 first-leg win at Old Trafford last week. The
semi final is tightly poised for the second leg, and Rooney is
confident of finishing the job.
"When we went to Milan two years ago and lost we struggled a bit,"
he said. "Myself, Cristiano and Darren Fletcher were young lads
then, and it showed against such an experienced side with players
like Paolo Maldini. But we've matured as a team. So, hopefully we
can go to Milan on Wednesday and finish the job."
