Rooney tells Ronaldo: “Your time is up”

“Your time is up”: Wayne Rooney directed that message at Cristiano Ronaldo, in a criticism that addressed both his conduct and his situation with the national team.

A former teammate of Ronaldo at Manchester United, Rooney again criticised Cristiano’s position. On his programme “Stick to United”, he described his reaction after the incident: “The first thing I thought was: why? Undermining your coach and teammates the way he did was completely wrong.” Rooney also took issue with the forward’s attempt to influence his coach’s comments publicly: “You can’t dictate to the coach what he should say. That is beyond anything I’ve seen in my life.”

Rooney’s strongest criticism concerned Cristiano’s current situation with the national team. He said the time had come for him to leave international football: “There comes a time when every player has to leave international football. It happens to everyone, without exception, and unfortunately, he is not handling the situation well and does not understand that his time is up. And frankly, it is unpleasant to watch.”