Wayne Rooney has criticized his former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo over his fallout with Portugal boss Jorge Jesus.
Ronaldo exited the Portugal training camp over a lack of playing time.
This followed a statement by head coach Jorge Jesus, who had stated earlier that there was no misunderstanding with the team captain, amid allegations that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner had refused to train.
Ronaldo apologized to fans and teammates afterwards, claiming Jesus broke his promise to him.
Rooney believes Ronaldo undermined the manager, the FA, fans, and teammates by exiting the training camp, per ESPN.
“My thoughts on Ronaldo is just: ‘Why?’ It was the same day [Lionel] Messi was retiring from Argentina and for him to come out of the Portugal squad in that way, then put that statement out… It’s just wrong in every sense,” Rooney said.
“To undermine your manager, undermine your teammates the way he has — it was just so wrong. To undermine the Portuguese FA, everything about it was just wrong.
“From a football point of view, from being a teammate and a manager, it wasn’t nice to see.
“It comes to every player. You have to finish international football and unfortunately he’s not dealing with it well. It’s uncomfortable to see.”
Rooney and Ronaldo played together at Manchester United between 2004 and 2009, in the glory days of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign, and they won three Premier League titles and the Champions League together. Ronaldo left for Real Madrid eight years before Rooney finally said goodbye to United.
Rooney seemed especially angry about one part of Ronaldo’s statement, where he listed what he felt Jesus should have said in a news conference. The saga started to brew when Ronaldo was an unused substitute in Portugal’s Nations League match against Norway. Ronaldo has also said he’ll remain available to play for Portugal if he’s called up.
“You can’t tell a manager what he’s got to say. That just goes beyond anything I’ve ever seen.”
