Wed, Jul 05, 2006 page19

• World Cup: Rooney `gobsmacked' over red card

  FOULS Wayne Rooney said he did not deserve a red card for stomping on Ricardo Carvalho's groin. Reportedly he'd also like `to bury the hatchet in Ronaldo's head'

  • AP
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  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.
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