Ronaldo on winking incident: The Portuguese forward has opened up on the infamous winking incident during the World Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo spent 6 years at Manchester United. He joined the club in 2003, and won three Premier League titles, and a Champions League trophy in 2008.
A year after Ronaldo joined United, Wayne Rooney signed for the club from Everton. The duo terrorized the defences for years, before Ronaldo departed for Real Madrid in 2009.
However, one incident which feared to have marred the relationship between the two happened during the 2006 World Cup. During the game between England and Portugal, Wayne Rooney was sent off, and Ronaldo, who argued with the referee in favour of the eventual decision, winked at his dugout after referee pulled out the red card.
A lot of stories were written, and there were speculations that the relationship between the duo will take a massive hit.
However, as it’s clearly evident, it wasn’t the case and both the players were influential in United’s multiple trophy-winning seasons after the incident. Cristiano Ronaldo has now opened up on the infamous night.
Ronaldo on winking incident:
Cristiano Ronaldo stated that he feared entering England after the incident took place.
“The media created a big drama which never existed,” Ronaldo said in an interview with Goalhanger. “So when I arrived back in England I was afraid, not because of Rooney but because of the supporters.
“They made a huge story when I did the wink, but it was not because of the circumstances with Rooney, it was another situation.”
Ronaldo insisted that he feared he would be booed in England because England were knocked out of the World Cup in that game.
“It was difficult timing for me because I thought when I arrived in Manchester, people were going to boo me in all the stadiums.
“But it’s the past, I had a chat with him when I arrived back in Manchester. We are still friends and he understands my point of view.”
Ronaldo: “For me the power of Wayne Rooney is his mentality and strength. He never stops, he always runs, helps the team. He’s a fantastic team player and he scores goals. He scored important goals, for me he’s fantastic.” #mufc [Goalhanger] pic.twitter.com/WC3Zlsp4nx
— United Xtra (@utdxtra) November 3, 2018
The Juventus forward stated that Rooney helped him calm down.
“He (Rooney) said, ‘Cristiano, this is the past, let’s speak about the present, let’s win trophies together.'”
Wayne Rooney has also reflected on the incident in his autobiography, ‘My Decade in the Premier League.’
Rooney stated that he met Ronaldo in the tunnel after the game, and told him to ‘get on with things.’
Ronaldo: “We were led by a fantastic coach, Sir Alex Ferguson, who knew how to take the potential of the players. Rooney was striker, after Tevez, the first year with Saha. We scored many goals. It was unbelievable. We won every trophy. I was so happy there.” #mufc [Goalhanger] pic.twitter.com/0zp7L10jaE
— United Xtra (@utdxtra) November 3, 2018
“‘The fans will be going mad over this one,’ I said. (to Ronaldo) ‘They’ll be trying to make a big deal out of it, so we’ll just have to get on with things as normal because there will be talk all summer.”
Rooney later insisted that he likes Ronaldo, and both of them get on with things indeed.
“The Manager (Sir Alex Ferguson) knew we’d be fine together. He didn’t sit us down for a pep talk when we arrived for the first day back at pre-season. There was no need. He understood it would be business as usual with the two of us.”
