Rooney Forgives Ronaldo

Wayne Rooney's sent-off in England's match against Portugal continues to fill out pages and pages in the British media. The latest story about the famous "red card" received by the Manchester United striker comes from the footballer himself. After leaving his teammates in only 10 men for almost an hour of play, Rooney wanted to convince everybody that the referee had no right to take that decision.

More, the striker said he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the red card in front of his face: "When the referee produced the red card I was amazed - gob smacked. I want to say absolutely categorically that I did not intentionally put my foot down on Ricardo Carvalho. 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 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. If you ask any player... they will tell you that I am straight and honest in the way I play. 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".

Sven Goran Eriksson main striker wanted to deny all allegations concerning his Man U teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. Even if "The Sun" made it very clear, yesterday, that the Portuguese midfielder is not to come back to Manchester after forcing Rooney to receive a red card, Wayne had a different opinion. More, he said that he understands Ronaldo and would probably have done the same if the situation was reversed.

"I bear no ill feeling to Cristiano but am disappointed that he chose to get involved. I suppose I do, though, have to remember that on that particular occasion we were not team-mates. Obviously, I'm bitterly disappointed to have been sent off in a World Cup finals match for England", concluded Rooney.