RONALDO - ME AND ROONEY ARE FINE
Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed there is no ill
feeling between him and his Manchester United team-mate Wayne
Rooney after the England striker was sent off in Saturday's World
Cup game between the two countries.
Ronaldo, speaking on the website of the Gestifute agency which
represents him, says the pair have been in regular contact since
the end of the match and have cleared the air.
Media reports in England have suggested the two players are at
loggerheads following the incident, which saw Rooney push Ronaldo
before being sent off in the quarter-final clash in
Gelsenkirchen.
Some reports also suggested that Ronaldo will be hounded out of
United for his behaviour.
"The things that have been said regarding me and my team-mate and
friend Rooney are incredible," said Ronaldo in an exclusive
interview to www.gestifute.com.
"Between me and Rooney, there is absolutely no problem.
"I reiterate, no problem.
"At the end of the game, we sent each other some text messages and
also today. Between the two of us everything has been
cleared.
"He wished me the best of luck in the World Cup. He told me we had
a great team and that if we continued to play like this, we would
go far.
"He wasn't angry with me and moreover, he told me to completely
ignore what the English press has said, that all they wanted was to
create confusion but we are already used to that."
Ronaldo said he had warm exchanges with his United team-mates
before kick-off.
"Before the game, I spoke in the tunnel to my club team-mates Gary
Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Rooney," he said.
"We had a nice chat and we wished each other good luck."
Rooney, who had seemingly stamped on Portuguese defender Ricardo
Carvalho before pushing Ronaldo, was shown a straight red
card.
Ronaldo insisted he was not to blame for the dismissal.
"I am not a referee and I don't have the power to send off a
player," said Ronaldo.
"I had nothing to do with the fact that the referee showed the red
card."
Ronaldo has brushed aside suggestions he will leave Old Trafford
this summer, despite reports that he is keen to join Real
Madrid.
"There have been comments published in which I reportedly said that
I didn't want to go back to Manchester United," he said.
"That is completely false, of course I want to go back.
"It's just typical of the English press but I don't lose any
sleep."
After the game had finished goalless after extra time, Ronaldo
scored the winning penalty which sent Portugal through to a
semi-final meeting with France.
"When the decision was going to be taken on who will take the
penalties, I asked Scolari if I could take the last one," Ronaldo
said.
"I like to take penalties and to score them.
"Why did I ask to be last? Because I like to take responsibility
and because I had a strong feeling that I was going to be the one
to resolve the game."
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/06/07/03/WORLDCUP_Rooney_Ronaldo.html&TEAMHD=soccer
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