World Cup qualification - Rooney hopes Portugal fail

Eurosport - Fri, 09 Oct 10:45:00 2009

England striker Wayne Rooney has said he hopes former Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal fail to qualify for next year's World Cup in South Africa.

World Cup 2006 England Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Wayne Rooney (PA Sport) - 0

"It would be nice to see Portugal not there because, in the last two tournaments (World Cup 2006, Euro 2004), they've knocked us out," Rooney said ahead of England's penultimate World Cup qualifier in Ukraine.

"When we didn't qualify for Euro 2008, we (the United players) got a lot of stick (from Ronaldo)."

England have already qualified for the finals in South Africa while Portugal are third in Group One and must win both their remaining matches against Hungary and Malta while hoping Sweden drop points to reach the play-offs.

Rooney was sent off against Portugal in the 2006 World Cup quarter-final for stamping on Ricardo Carvalho in a match that triggered a media backlash against Ronaldo.

The Portuguese forward had suggested to the referee that Rooney should be sent off and was then seen to wink at his bench when the official did so.

Rooney said he had no doubt that he deserved to be sent off and made clear there were no hard feelings towards Ronaldo, saying the Portuguese had only improved since his move to Real Madrid.

"I've watched his first few games for Real Madrid and he seems to have improved again," he said. "He's passing the ball a lot more as well. Cristiano is definitely the best player around."

Reuters

Comment 33 - 52 of 52

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  1. Rooney does not deserve to be call a professional,­ becouse a professional sportman cannot make such­ comments to another team or whoever. Rooney is jeolous­ and dark hearted.

    From saulnjie16, on Mon 12 Oct 2:17PM

  2. Roohey does not deserve to be call a professional,­ becouse a professional sportman cannot make such­ comments to another team or whoever. Rooney is jeolous­ and dark hearted.

    From saulnjie16, on Mon 12 Oct 2:16PM

  3. Roohey does deserve to be call a professional, becouse­ a professional sportman cannot make such comments to­ another team or whoever. Rooney is jeolous and dark­ hearted.

    From saulnjie16, on Mon 12 Oct 2:13PM

  4. if ronaldo is so great then portugal would already have­ qualified, sometimes diving aint enough is it ronaldo?

    From chris.shaw47, on Sat 10 Oct 5:09PM

  5. I won't miss him. who needs a diver in the world­ cup? Who needs a simulator in the word cup? No­ one...Enough said, hurray cheats fail to get there.­ It's hard to illiminate the worlds finest divers­ and cheats, but perhaps, the refs won't have to be­ blamed for missing thier behavior if he's gone...

    From EGK, on Sat 10 Oct 2:25PM

  6. i agree with rooney i don't want portugal to­ qualify.i wouldn't care if they qualified if­ ronaldo wasn't there

    From Daniel, on Sat 10 Oct 12:48PM

  7. let the best be there

    From Tevin, on Sat 10 Oct 5:47AM

  8. Rooney is certainly the better player. Ronaldo may have­ more "skills" per se, but Rooney is a highly­ efficient team player. Rooney over Ronaldo any day, for­ me.

    From forrest_rat7, on Sat 10 Oct 4:21AM

  9. yes Rooony not only U wish that..me too..i hope that­ happen more than you.

    From Aziz Marzoq, on Sat 10 Oct 1:03AM

  10. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM THIS TYPE OF AVORTON???
    THE­ SIDE EFFECTS OF ONANISM...

    From dorin c, on Fri 9 Oct 11:22PM

  11. Point 41, you missed out George Best, who was better­ than any of the players you have mentioned, he was true­ world class.

    From Gary S, on Fri 9 Oct 10:31PM

  12. if England meet Spain or Brazil in the knock out stages­ we will be out the world cup, but is nice to take part­ and have some thing to cheer for, at least until the­ knock out stages.

    From Tom M, on Fri 9 Oct 7:14PM

  13. You qualify for the world cup due to your present form­ and not by virtue of your footballing history and who­ you have in your ranks.I love messi and Ronaldo but­ Argentina and Portugal are simply out of form and if­ they are not in South Africa it is because there are­ more deserving teams at the moment.We have seen­ incredibly talented players miss appearing at the­ biggest soccer stage(Cantona,Ian Rush,Giggs,George­ Weah,Abedi Pele)becaust their teams were not good­ enough when they played.

    From james.masharia, on Fri 9 Oct 6:33PM

  14. i really wouldnt care if ronaldos in it or not...but i­ would if messi didnt make it

    From rbrangmanjr, on Fri 9 Oct 6:16PM

  15. Rooney is just jealous of Ronaldo's fame.­
    Christiano Ronaldo had a more big impact on Man Utd­ than him so its obvious Rooney is jealous.
    I hope Real­ Madrid meet Man Utd in the Quarter Finals and then we­ will who is better- Ronaldo or Rooney?

    From type1a_evanova9, on Fri 9 Oct 5:39PM

  16. Did no-one tell poor little potatoe-head Wayne that he­­ can write to Santa for these kind of requests ?

    From corneilius, on Fri 9 Oct 4:29PM

  17. if argentina and portugal do not qualify for the world­ cup this is only due to the fact that they are­ currently not one of the best TEAMS in the world, and­ just because they have a couple of excellent­ individuals this does not mean that they deserve to be­ playing at the world cup.Take for instance Ryan­ Giggs,& George Best does this mean Wales and NI­ should have had automatic qualification. Who gives two­ s hits if they are not there!!!

    From bast337, on Fri 9 Oct 4:21PM

  18. it will begreat wc without another diver, also no scots­ there either so even better.

    From bazspur5, on Fri 9 Oct 4:07PM

  19. Comment #25. Spot on. Just because I say Rooney needs­ about 10 chances to actually score that means I am no­ United fan. I must be watching different games to you.­ I applaude him for his effort and work rate for the­ team but he has never been consistent at scoring goals.­ And Owen Hargreaves may never even play in a red shirt­ again let alone walk......

    From The M, on Fri 9 Oct 3:55PM

  20. Rooney what kind of sportsman are you? I would never­ want another fellow athlete to fail. I always wanted to­ beat them on the field. And you are England's hope­ for another World Cup?

    From Markus, on Fri 9 Oct 3:41PM
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