Wayne Rooney vs. Christiano Ronaldo

[cheguevara]

Nope, he deserved the red card. Anyone who steps on opponent's nuts deserves a red card. Many red cards this world cup have been for way less.

[MaNuMaNiAc]

Nope, he deserved the red card. Anyone who steps on opponent's nuts deserves a red card. Many red cards this world cup have been for way less.

are you serious?? you can't tell me you think that was on purpose dude was fighting for the ball and happened to step on the other guy. It was a clear accident.

[cheguevara]

are you serious?? you can't tell me you think that was on purpose dude was fighting for the ball and happened to step on the other guy. It was a clear accident.

Of course it was on purpose. watch it again. he clearly looks down and back to point his heel into the nuts.

[velik_m]

Pushing Ronaldo away afterwards didn't help Rooney's cause either.

[judaspriestess]

don't get me wrong, I thought England played like crap and deserved to lose, but Rooney definately got shafted!

all part of the chain of events towards their eventual loss

[GrandeDavid]

Cool, Hamburg is really nice. I once met Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins there (maybe you have heard of him). Wish you lots of fun... hopefully you will be in the country of the new Soccer world champs...

(Sorry for the off-topic!!!)

Unfortunately it was not meant to be, bro. I was pulling for Germany after the U.S. inevitably went out early, then after Brazil totally and thoroughly let me down. Cool that you ran into Billy C. in Hamburg! Echt geil! lol

Wohnst du in Deutschland, auf jedenfalls im Hamburg?

Now here's to Klinsmann actually taking over U.S. soccer as rumored to happen!

[GrandeDavid]

if someone wants to hear things from a more credible source:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...06/5141510.stm

Rooney 'gobsmacked' by red card

Striker Wayne Rooney said he was "gobsmacked" to be sent off for a stamp on Ricardo Carvalho in England's World Cup quarter-final against Portugal.

And he insisted he was not angry with Cristiano Ronaldo, who appeared to encourage the referee to send him off.

"I want to say absolutely categorically that I did not intentionally put my foot down on Carvalho," said Rooney.

The 20-year-old added: "I bear no ill feeling to Cristiano but am disappointed he chose to get involved."

England ended up losing 3-1 on penalties to Portugal having drawn 0-0 after extra-time. Rooney's Manchester United team-mate Ronaldo scored the winning spot-kick.

Sven-Goran Eriksson's men played the final hour of the match with 10 men after Rooney's sending-off, but in a statement released on Monday, the striker said: "When the referee produced the red card I was amazed - gobsmacked."

He added: "Obviously I'm bitterly disappointed to have been sent off in a World Cup finals match for England."

"I remember the incident clearly and have seen it several times since on TV," Rooney said.

"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.

"If you ask any player - and indeed almost any fan - 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."

Rooney hailed his England team-mates, who fought valiantly to force extra-time and penalties despite being a man down.

"I thought the England lads were awesome after I went off and the effort they put in was amazing," he said.

"Truly if there was any justice England would now be preparing for a World Cup semi-final. Sadly, however, that is not to be in 2006."

Earlier on Monday, Ronaldo insisted there was no ill-feeling between him and Rooney.

"At the end we texted each other and between us everything's been cleared," he said.

Ronaldo added: "The things that have been said regarding me and my team-mate and friend Rooney are incredible."

"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 insisted he was not to blame for Rooney's dismissal, despite appearing to wink at the Portuguese bench once the red card had been shown.

"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."

And referee Horacio Elizondo said Ronaldo did not influence his decision to send off Rooney.

Elizondo told The Times: "It was violent play and therefore he got a red card.

"People can say what they want (about Ronaldo) but this had absolutely no influence.

"In general I don't pay much attention to that sort of thing because I don't care about the pressure on my shoulders during a match.

"For me it was a clear red card."

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/spo...06/5141510.stm

Thanks for posting this, haas. The reason I opened this thread was to get viewer opinions on the incident. The English sensationalist sect of the press is just trying to sell fishwraps, which as we all know does not often include credible news. BBC is a credible source, obviously. still, the point of the this thread is to get the opinions of those who saw the incident. I was actually distracted when it happened, so I missed most of it.

[GrandeDavid]

So my friend ManuMania thinks Rooney got jobbed. Most of you think it was legit, but I have to wonder how much bias there is among you against the English players. Because it is Wayne Rooney and the way he plays, maybe its easy to assume his intentions were to injure, harm, maim, what have you. After all, from what I've heard from others is that English players often get a bad rap for being dirty players. That's what I heard from a broadcast in Brazil, the U.S. and just general opinion.

On the other hand, Rooney seems to be accepting the red card more humbly than I would've thought were it not merited.

[nkdlunch]

So my friend ManuMania thinks Rooney got jobbed. Most of you think it was legit, but I have to wonder how much bias there is among you against the English players. Because it is Wayne Rooney and the way he plays, maybe its easy to assume his intentions were to injure, harm, maim, what have you. After all, from what I've heard from others is that English players often get a bad rap for being dirty players. That's what I heard from a broadcast in Brazil, the U.S. and just general opinion.

On the other hand, Rooney seems to be accepting the red card more humbly than I would've thought were it not merited.

More humbly? I can't imagine how else would he take that card.

BTW, I wonder if Manumania thought the elbow from Artest to Manu last playoffs was intentional?