In his first public comments since being sent off against Portugal at the World Cup, England star Wayne Rooney says he was "gobsmacked" when referee Horacio Elizondo produced a red card.
The incident occurred in the 62nd minute when Rooney broke through two tacklers, then stomped on the prone Ricardo Carvalho's groin. England went on to lose the quarter-final in a penalty shootout.
"I remember the incident clearly and have seen it several times since on TV," the Manchester United striker said in a statement.
"I am of the same opinion now as I was at the time, that what happened didn't warrant a red card. If anything I feel we should have had a free kick for the fouls committed on me during the same incident," he said.
"I want to say absolutely categorically I did not intentionally put my foot down on Ricardo Carvalho. He slid in from behind me and unfortunately ended up in a position where my foot was inevitably going to end up as I kept my balance. That's all there was to it. From what I've seen in the World Cup, most players would have gone to ground at the slightest contact, but my only thought then was to keep possession for England," Rooney said.
Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo ran up to the referee to protest Rooney's actions, getting a shove from his United teammate in the process.
"When the referee produced the red card I was amazed, gobsmacked," Rooney said.
"I bear no ill feeling to Cristiano [Ronaldo], but I am disappointed he chose to get involved. I suppose I do, though, have to remember on that particular occasion we were not teammates," he said.
Ronaldo, who was caught winking to the Portugal bench after Rooney was ejected, denied a rift between the two.
"Dreadful things have been said about me and my teammate and friend Rooney," Ronaldo said in a column on his agent's Web site, www.gestifute.com.
"There is no problem at all between me and Rooney. I insist: no problem at all. At the end of the game, we exchanged a series of text messages just as we had on the day before. This reinforces that I have a fine relationship with Rooney," Ronaldo said.
British papers reported the Ronaldo and Rooney statements and text messages appear to be an attempt at a peace bid brokered by United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
But the Sun reported that Rooney still was in no mood to make up, saying he had confided to teammates that the only way was "to bury the hatchet in Ronaldo's head."
Elizondo, speaking to the Times, said he sent off Rooney for lashing out with his boot and catching the defender in the groin, not for the 20-year-old's push on Ronaldo.
"It was violent play and therefore he got a red card," the Argentine official said in Frankfurt.
The referee said Ronaldo had not played a part in the decision to show the red card.
"People can say what they want, but this had absolutely no influence," Elizondo said.
"For me it was a clear red card, so I didn't react to the Portuguese players," he said.
The head of England's Professional Footballers' Association condemned Ronaldo's actions.
Ronaldo had earlier talked of moving to Real Madrid, but it appears that door has closed after Juan Miguel Villar Mir, who had promised to lure the Portugal winger there, lost the election for Real president.
Innocent bystanders, meanwhile, appearing to be paying the price for Ronaldo's actions.
The Sun reported an English racehorse owner has had a colt gelded because its name is Ronaldo.
"It would have given me much more satisfaction if I could have had the real Ronaldo's nuts cut off. But this is the best I could do," said Gary Martin, 55, of Windmill Hill, East Sussex.
Boston Red Sox pitcher Connelly Early on Tuesday struck out 11 in five shutout innings to match a franchise record during his MLB debut against the Oakland Athletics. “Pretty sick performance,” teammate Romy Gonzalez said. “It was fun to watch.” The only other Red Sox starter to rack up 11 strikeouts in his first career game was Don Aase versus the Milwaukee Brewers on July 26, 1977. “It was amazing, just to go out there and have that first opportunity,” Early said after getting the win in a 6-0 victory. “A long day of travel yesterday and just getting to the field, seeing
Mikel Merino on Sunday scored a hat-trick as a majestic Spain thumped Turkey 6-0 away in World Cup qualifying, while a brilliant Florian Wirtz free-kick helped Germany beat Northern Ireland 3-1 to get their bid up and running. European champions Spain were in unstoppable form in the central Turkish city of Konya, claiming their second biggest-ever away win in World Cup qualifying as Arsenal midfielder Merino scored his first professional hat-trick. Barcelona playmaker Pedri Gonzalez opened the scoring inside six minutes and later completed the scoring, with Ferran Torres netting the visitors’ other goal. The quality of Merino’s strikes was remarkable, with his
ELEVEN STRIKEOUTS: Blake Snell allowed two singles and two walks against the Rockies as he ended a personal three-game skid with his first win since Aug. 16 Blake Snell on Wednesday struck out a season-high 11 in six innings, while Mookie Betts hit a grand slam in the eighth as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 9-0 for their fourth straight win. Helped by their third series sweep of the Rockies this MLB season, the Dodgers increased their National League West lead to three games over the San Diego Padres, who lost 2-1 at home to the Cincinnati Reds. Betts went four for five with five RBIs, capped by his seventh career slam on a 3-0 pitch from reliever Anthony Molina to make it 8-0. Andy Pages and
SWEDEN BEATEN: Goals in the first half by Elvis Rexhbecaj and Vedat Muriqi were enough to give Kosovo their second-ever win in World Cup qualifying Sandro Tonali’s last-gasp winner on Monday edged Italy to a 5-4 victory over Israel in FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifying, while Kosovo beat Sweden despite Alexander Isak making his first appearance of the season. After collapsing from leading 4-2 in the final two minutes to drawing 4-4, Tonali’s 91st-minute strike in the Hungarian city of Debrecen sent Italy above Israel and into the playoff spot in Group I. New coach Gennaro Gattuso’s side trail leaders Norway by three points and still have a chance of taking first place and the group’s sole direct qualifying spot as they seek to avoid missing out
RSS