Rooney: 'I don't hate Ronaldo; he actually has a selfish spirit'

Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney recently shared some striking comments about his former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. He believes Ronaldo possesses a form of positive selfishness.

During a conversation with Rio Ferdinand, Rooney reminisced about their time playing alongside Ronaldo at Old Trafford. The duo once formed a devastating attack, helping MU win the Premier League and the Champions League. However, Rooney admitted he often had to adapt his style to allow Ronaldo to fully shine.

Rooney said: “I never considered it a sacrifice. Sometimes it appeared that way and felt like it, but my only goal was to win, to lift the Premier League and Champions League trophies. Cristiano Ronaldo has something in his mind that I think no one else has. He possesses a mindset and spirit beyond any player I have ever seen.”

Rooney emphasized that the biggest difference between him and Ronaldo lies in their mentality. While Rooney wasn’t very concerned with the Ballon d’Or or personal awards, Ronaldo always craved to conquer everything.

Rooney stated: “People think I hate Ronaldo, but I love him. My mentality and mindset never reached that level; I just wanted to win. I never cared about the Ballon d’Or or individual trophies. To me, those meant nothing. I only wanted to win with my teammates. Of course, Cristiano also wants to win with the team, but he has a selfish spirit, he wants it all. I do not.”

In fact, it was this personal ambition that helped Ronaldo win 5 Ballon d’Or awards, break numerous scoring records, and be recognized as one of the greatest goal scorers in history.

Although they worked well together on the pitch, Ronaldo and Rooney were never close friends. In 2022, during an interview with Piers Morgan, CR7 openly stated: “They are not my friends; they are just colleagues. We played together, but they never came to my house, and we never had dinner together.”

The rift between them became clear during the 2006 World Cup when Ronaldo was accused of contributing to Rooney’s red card in the quarterfinal between England and Portugal. Ronaldo’s controversial wink after the incident became one of the tournament’s memorable moments.

Since retiring, Rooney has tried coaching at Derby, DC United, Birmingham City, and Plymouth but faced many challenges. Currently, the former English striker has stepped away from coaching. In contrast, Ronaldo continues playing at age 40. Wearing Al-Nassr’s jersey in the Saudi Pro League, CR7 keeps scoring regularly and is preparing for the “super classic” match against Al-Ittihad this weekend.

Related article

Ronaldo battles Chelsea to sign Barcelona star Cristiano Ronaldo still harbors big ambitions with Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, ready to face Chelsea head-on in the race to acquire one of Barcelona’s brightest talents. See more