Rooney revels in Ronaldo struggle

Rooney revels in Ronaldo struggle
England forward Wayne Rooney will be pleased to see Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal fail to qualify for next year's World Cup in South Africa. Portugal are in danger of missing out and Rooney said: "It would be nice to see Portugal not there. "In the last two tournaments they've knocked us out and when we didn't qualify for Euro 2008, we got a lot of stick from Ronaldo." Rooney is keen to banish the memories of the England's 2006 World Cup exit. He was sent off during the quarter-final defeat by Portugal in Gelsenkirchen for a stamp on Ricardo Carvalho. The incident will be remembered for Rooney's then Manchester United team-mate Ronaldo appearing to encourage the referee to send him off. But Rooney says Ronaldo's involvement, and the subsequent backlash in Britain, was a blessing in disguise. "I didn't really get any stick," added Rooney. "Ronaldo took a lot of it and I was pleased about that. "I still got it when I played for my club but that is just normal. In that instance, I know I could have taken a lot more. "I was disappointed with getting sent off. I never meant to stamp on him but when I watch it, it does look like I've made a stamp. "Of course it's a straight red card. I've got no argument about that. I've got a chance to put it right in the next tournament." Portugal are currently third in qualifying Group One, two points behind second-placed Sweden. They must beat Hungary and Malta in their last two matches, both at home, to salvage any realistic hope of a play-off spot. There are no such worries for England, however, who booked their World Cup place with victory over Croatia last month. Fabio Capello's men play Ukraine on Saturday before they finish their campaign against Belarus at Wembley next Wednesday. And although England's qualification is already guaranteed, Rooney insists Capello has made it clear that there is plenty still at stake for the players involved in the final two matches. "Fabio has said the next two games are the most important games of the group," he told Radio 5 live. "Although we've qualified he wants us to go into the two games looking for the six points and nothing less. "We know these matches are important, there are not many games before the World Cup starts so we will try to do our best in them. "The pressure is not really off us, we are now playing for a World Cup place so there are important games for us all. "We need to try and express ourselves and try and show the manager what we can do."

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