World Football News: Rio relishes Rooney’s return as Cole says he is no Maldini
Rio Ferdinand has become the latest member of the Manchester United squad as well as the English national team squad to talk about Wayne Rooney’s return to England after the striker’s lengthy rehabilitation process in United States at
the Nike Head Quarters in Portland.
Rooney was out with an ankle injury for both club and country and thus he was not included in England’s squad to face France in their upcoming friendly matchup. Manchester United were also without Rooney’s services for their latest league
match against Aston Villa, a game that the Red Devils drew two all at the Villa Park.
Rio spoke to the press at the English national team’s press conference saying, "Hopefully Wazza (Rooney) will come back and be the Wazza we remember. That is what everyone is hoping. He has gone away and worked really hard physically.
We all hope he comes back in great shape and ready to play for Manchester United and England in the future. A fit Rooney is one of the best players in the world."
Rio also commented on Theo Walcott, a player that might start the game for England at Wembley against the French. Rio stated, "Theo is a player of great talent. This season he has scored some nice goals and looked very calm in front of
goal. Everyone knows he has got ability. It is just about playing a run of games. He's had a lot of injuries. When he seems to have been getting into his groove, he has been held back by various injuries. If he can get a good run together, we will see the
real talent of Theo coming through."
England however will be without their defensive campaigner, John Terry. Terry is out with a back problem, a fitness issue which might keep him out for an extended period of time. Ferdinand spoke about the Chelsea captain as he said, "To
hear about anyone being injured for any length of time is disappointing. JT' (Terry) had a problem a while ago with his back and he got it sorted and it seems to have come up again. He is in good hands with Chelsea and their medical team and, fingers crossed,
he will be coming back and playing as soon as possible. It is not nice to see anyone injured but he will work his way back to fitness and be in the manager's eyes again."
On the other hand, Chelsea’s left back; Ashley Cole was compared to Paulo Maldini by his club manager, Carlo Ancelotti who termed the ex-Arsenal player as one of the best left backs in the world. Cole said, “I would love to carry on as
long as I can and be somewhere close to as successful as him because he had a great career. I can't see myself playing until I am 40 like Maldini. He was a machine and I am not. You don't get people like that too often — you might see it in goalkeepers but
rarely does a centre-back or a left-back play with the quality he did."
He added by stating, “I used to look at players like Roberto Carlos and see how I could improve and be like him. Now I have developed my own style and I play how my manager wants. I just want to play my own way and do the things I know
I can every week.”
Cole who is a member of the England national team squad went onto say, “You do get a bit reflective at this stage in your career. There are a lot of youngsters coming through — we have Josh McEachran, who is 17, and you sit with him thinking: How old are you?
You do feel your age but being on the pitch makes me feel young and enthusiastic and healthy. That's what keeps me going every day in training.”
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