The red card incident at the 2006 World Cup when England met Portugal in the quarter-finals, was Wayne Rooney’s most memorable moment. Not only did he fail to bring England to the semifinals at that time, but the red card incident he received also received a lot of attention from the media.
This was because his Manchester United teammate at that time, Cristiano Ronaldo, tried to provoke the referee to immediately remove him from the field. Just to note, at that time, Wayne Rooney stepped on the thigh of Portugal defender, Ricardo Carvalho.
Shortly after that, Cristiano Ronaldo who defended Portugal immediately provoked the referee who led the match, Horacio Elizondo (Argentina). Without lingering, the referee immediately gave a red card to Wayne Rooney.
“I would also do that if I were him (Cristiano Ronaldo, red). I really tried to get him a yellow card in the first half. I play for England, he plays for Portugal, so do whatever you can to win,” Rooney told Dailymail quoted by Sportskeeda Monday (7/2/2022).
The incident was much discussed by many people. Because, both Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo are known to be Manchester United’s main pounders that season.
“After I was sent off in the 2006 World Cup quarter-final against Portugal and we lost on penalties, I met him (Cristiano Ronaldo, ed) in the dressing room tunnel. I warned him, you will get a lot of criticism from the press, I will get a lot of criticism from the press. My focus now is Manchester United,” he continued in the interview.
The former professional player who is now coaching Derby County said that there was no tension between him and Cristiano Ronaldo after the match. Although England also had to accept defeat to Portugal, through the penalty round (1-3), after 120 minutes of playing with the score 0-0.
“No problem with me at all, I will do the same trying to make England win against Portugal. And it was a big year for us in Manchester, we had a chance to win the league.”
This was proven in the 2006-2007 English League, Manchester United became champions thanks to the help of Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney. The title is the first English League trophy that Manchester United has won after the last time winning it in 2002-2003.
