Wayne Rooney, the ex-England forward recently described his former Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo as “selfish”. He also opened up on what according to him makes Lionel Messi the more complete player.
Wayne Rooney also says that he understands what Eden Hazard meant to say when the former Chelsea attacker claimed that he was a better footballer than the Portuguese in pure terms and faced a great deal of backlash.
How old is Wayne Rooney now?
Wayne Rooney is 38 years old now.
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Wayne Rooney on Contrasting Mindsets: Goals vs. Playing Style
Speaking to YouTubers Lyes Bouzidi and CultureCams, he said: “So for instance, Cristiano Ronaldo, his mindset is goals. He doesn’t care about anything else, it’s goals, that’s all he wants. Whereas you look at Messi, he wants to play a bit more.”
Wayne goes on to say that the Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson would always have a go at him for dropping too deep to touch the ball a few more times, try and create something for his team mates.
“I suppose that’s what Hazard is saying, he liked to play – exactly like myself. I saw something that Gary Neville said recently, that Alex Ferguson always used to have a go at me for coming too deep, but it was because I wanted to play football.”
Rooney says he could’ve been a bit more selfish and played for scoring some more goals but he wanted to enjoy playing football more than he wanted to score goals and maybe that’s what Hazard was referring to as he was also the same niche of a player like Rooney.
“And I could have been a bit more selfish and stayed up top, and maybe scored a few more goals, but I wanted to play. I wanted to enjoy the game and I imagine that’s what Hazard means.”
Wayne Rooney’s Unwavering Admiration for Lionel Messi Amidst Sharing Dressing Room with Ronaldo
Wayne Rooney had always confessed a numerous times in the past that he’s an ardent Messi fan even though he’s shared the same dressing room as Ronaldo.
All the way back in 2012 the striker wrote on X(Twitter): “Messi is a joke. For me the best ever.”
Then, more than a decade later, he still stands firm to his statement and quote tweeted himself to add, “Nothing has changed”, after watching the Argentine Maestro guide his country to the World Cup final at Qatar 2022, before then lifting the famous Golden Ball, presented to the best player in the tournament.
Rooney has also repeatedly made himself clear that him supporting Messi is not an insult to Ronaldo for whom he has the ‘greatest of respect for’ but just admitting Messi is ‘different‘- acknowledging that he ‘couldn’t get near’ the Argentine maestro in their various encounters on the pitch.
Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo were team-mates for five years at Manchester United between 2004 and 2009, and together they won as many trophies as three Premier League titles and the Champions League in Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow against Chelsea under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Rooney was however critical of Ronaldo towards the end of his more difficult second spell with United in 2022 and that upset the Portugese 5 time Ballon d’or winner.
Ronaldo in retaliation had said he no longer considered Rooney or Gary Neville, former United right-back to be his friends following criticism from the pair, in an interview with Piers Morgan.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who turned 39 earlier this month is now with Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League who are set to face Al-Fayha in AFC Champions League on Wednesday, 21 February. And his counterpart meanwhile Lionel Messi face Real Salt Lake next Thursday on 22 February in the MLS opener for Inter Miami.
