SOCCER NEWS:WAYNE ROONEY is hoping that Portugal and his former team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo do not qualify for next year's World Cup. The England forward was sent off when the countries met in 2006 and the fallout from that incident has not been forgotten by Rooney.
England were beaten in that quarter-final and Portugal also knocked them out at the same stage of Euro 2004.
“It would be nice to see Portugal not there because (at our) last two tournaments they’ve knocked us out,” Rooney said yesterday.
Ronaldo’s side are lying third in Group One, two points behind Sweden in second place and five points behind the likely winners Denmark.
After Rooney stamped on Portugal’s Ricardo Carvalho in the quarter-final in Germany, Ronaldo led the protests and was shoved by Rooney before the referee, Hector Elizondo, waved the red card in the 62nd minute. The Portugal forward then appeared to wink at his country’s coaches and substitutes on the bench.
There are still implied recriminations from Rooney. “I was happy I didn’t get the stick Becks got (in the 1998 sending off against Argentina) and even Phil Neville did at Euro 2000,” he said. “I didn’t really get any stick. Ronaldo took a lot of it and I’m pleased with that.”
Rooney has not been cautioned in any of the eight qualifiers to date for the 2010 World Cup.
“I’m just trying to play and enjoy it,” he explained ahead of England’s forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Belarus. His wife, Coleen, is due to give birth to their first child soon and he looks more settled nowadays.
Rooney is attempting to be philosophical about the dismissal three years ago. “Of course, it’s a straight red card,” he said. “I’ve got no argument about that but I just try to forget about it now and move on. I’ve got a chance to put it right in the next tournament.”
Meanwhile, catastrophe, disaster, unthinkable. Three words employed by Ossie Ardiles to describe what all of Argentina feels about the prospect of their beloved Diego Maradona failing to lead the country to next summer’s World Cup.
It is, however, a definite prospect. “The next two games will decide the fate of Argentina, this is a tough situation. Argentina not in an automatic qualifying place is unthinkable but a possibility,” says Ardiles, a winner of the 1978 World Cup and a former international team-mate of Maradona.
Maradona’s reign as coach, which began 10 games into the qualifying campaign after Alfio Basile’s resignation last November, has been a reflection of the former cocaine addict’s volatile life. Only two days ago he threatened to walk out when saying his appointment had made him supremely happy, “but then things happened that I didn’t like”.
Aimed at Carlos Bilardo, Maradona’s former head coach who as his special adviser now has a fractious relationship with the 48-year-old, this comment could also be Maradona offering an honest assessment of his managerial record.
Near the top would be the calling up of more than 60 players. Amid such instability defence has been largely forgotten. For the crucial visit of Brazil last month the centre-back pairing had one senior cap between them as Argentina were humiliated 3-1. There is also a debilitating battle with the Argentinian media, which Maradona claims has been running since he was 15.
Since taking over, Argentina’s competitive record under Maradona is four defeats and two wins, while 12 goals have been leaked and only seven scored – a damning indictment for a man who can employ Messi, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain going forward, plus Javier Mascherano, Javier Zanetti and Gabriel Heinze for protection.
Overall Argentina have a paltry 22 points from 16 outings. Those include the forgettable night last April when Bolivia’s 6-1 rout handed Argentina their largest defeat for 51 years, before the Brazil defeat and a 1-0 loss to Paraguay last month.
Maradona’s men stand behind the first four in the South American group, who qualify automatically, in a fifth spot that if confirmed would earn a play-off for South Africa with the fourth-placed team in Concacaf.
Tomorrow Argentina play Peru, who are bottom and a “shambles”, according to Ardiles, before the sterner test of Uruguay – a place and point behind them – in Montevideo on Wednesday. “You cannot ask for an easier game to qualify than Peru, who are the worst team right now in South America,” Ardiles says. “Normally it would be three very easy points but it’s not the case right now.
Should the “catastrophe” strike and Maradona fail and lose his job, Ardiles fears for him. “He cannot live without the fame of football. He just cannot do it. He likes to be recognised, he likes to be famous.”
- Guardian Service
