The Man United and England captain caused quite the stir on Monday night when he took evasive action (dived) to win a penalty against Preston North End in the FA Cup.
And according to Preston's goalkeeper Thorsten Stuckmann, Rooney even had the cheek to apologise afterwards for going down a bit lightly, with the keeper claiming: "Rooney told me: 'Sorry, it was my chance to get a penalty. I had to use that'".
The keeper told The Sun that if the incident had taken place in the United penalty area, there is no way that referee Phil Dowd would have pointed to the spot.
"I also believe if the situation had happened the other way around, one of our strikers against the United keeper, the ref wouldn't have given the penalty. I have no doubt about that."
The penalty was a pretty divisive topic for the BBC punditry team afterwards, with Phil Neville saying Rooney dived to get out of the way of the tackle, while former Irish International Kevin Kilbane said Rooney should have stayed on his feet.
While Kilbane called a spade a spade, England manager Roy Hodgson (who probably wanted the ground to swallow him up), decided to call a spade a soil distribution implement, saying that Rooney took "evasive action" to get out of the way of Stuckmann's tackle.
Judge for yourself...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfgUYEGlNXU
Hat tip The Sun
Feisty from Heimir. Heimir Hallgrimsson announced his Ireland squad earlier today, ahead of next week’s World Cup play-off semi-final against Czechia. There were four uncapped players named – Harvey Vale, James Abankwah, Bosun Lawal, Josh Keeley – with Lawal in with a good shot of getting a debut, following an injury to midfielder Josh Cullen. […]
Fans are puzzled. Heimir Hallgrimsson has announced his Ireland squad for the World Cup play-off semi-final against Czechia next Thursday. There was even more big news, with the manager revealing at the end of the press conference that he has signed a new contract until the end of the Euro 2028 campaign. Hallgrimsson stated that […]
A huge occasion. Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has named his squad for his side’s crucial World Cup play-off semi-final against Czechia next Thursday (kick-off, 7.45pm). The winner of the tie will face the winner of Denmark vs North Macedonia on Tuesday, 31 March. QPR attacking midfielder and former England U20s star, Harvey Vale, has been […]