Spanish Primera Division: Ronaldo backs ex-team mate Rooney to shine
After a couple of weeks during which Rooney has been associated with a move away from Manchester United to greener shores like Real Madrid where Cristiano Ronaldo plies his trade now, the Portuguese winger has come out and backed
his friend to shine once again. Manchester United’s star striker has seen a slump in form which extends back to their UEFA Champions League quarter final against Bayern Munich in the month of March.
Both Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo used to play together for Manchester United under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson. The Portuguese superstar and the English boy wonder led United to their first UEFA Champions League title
of the new millennium in 2008 when the Red Devils defeated Chelsea on penalties on a fateful UEFA Champions League final in Moscow.
Ronaldo and Rooney rose together as big names in world football during the mid 1990s, a time when both came head to head as well when they were playing for their respective national team sides in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
After Wayne Rooney’s sending off against Portugal in the 2006 World Cup quarter final, Ronaldo was blamed by the English media for playing an active part in his club team-mates dismissal from the match.
However since then both the young players have developed a friendship bond that has endured Ronaldo’s high profile move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2009. Nonetheless, lately Rooney was on the verge of leaving United himself as
he stated that the club did not match his own ambitions of success.
Then miraculously the striker had a change of heart and signed a five year contract at United. Ronaldo commented on the whole situation in a recent interview to the English press. The Real Madrid winger said, “Wayne has not started
this season very well but he is still a fantastic player and I know that very soon he will be back to show that".
Ronaldo further spoke about his friend’s decision to stay at United by observing, "Rooney has made his decision to stay with United and sign a new contract and we must all respect that. It's not my position to give him advice on that.
But I know that things can change very quickly indeed.”
Cristiano who himself has seen a slow start to the season with Real Madrid admitted the fact in the interview as he added, "I didn't start this season very well, either. But it is difficult to play at the highest level all the time.
I just stayed calm, worked hard and did my job for the team and suddenly I scored a few goals and everything changed”. The winger also went onto say, "Football is like that. Sometimes we play bad and then you score a goal and everyone thinks differently about
you. That will happen for Wayne."
Speaking about his previous club, Cristiano Ronaldo expressed, "When I was in England United won many titles, trophies and cups. Last year they didn't win anything special and this time they don't play so good, but this is just a
moment. We have to give United time to find themselves again. Although their style is similar, they have bought some different players and they have not always been at 100 per cent. But I am sure that they will be good again very soon.”
Ronaldo also paid his respects to Sir Alex Ferguson by saying, "For five years I enjoyed working with Sir Alex Ferguson. I always had a good relationship with him and now I think of him as my friend as well as a great manager. For
me Ferguson and Mourinho are the best managers in the world. One is young and one is older. But they have both won everything in football."
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