I love Ronaldo. Rooney's surprise confession, which Messi picked in the Meho match, might eventually be the best

Sep 25, 2025

I love Ronaldo. Rooney's surprise confession, which Messi picked in the Meho match, might eventually be the best
Reuters Yonhap News



I love Ronaldo. Rooney's surprise confession, which Messi picked in the Meho match, might eventually be the best
Reuters Yonhap News
"I love Ronaldo."

It was a surprise confession from Wayne Rooney. Rooney opened a golden age for Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United. The two stayed together until Ronaldo left Real Madrid in the summer of 2009, after Rooney left Everton in 2004 to wear a United jersey. In the 2000s, he played as a one-two punch for Manchester United, winning three leagues, one European Champions League, one Club World Cup, and one League Cup.

But there was a twist in their relationship. A representative case was the wink incident at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. England and Portugal faced off in the quarterfinals, when Rooney stepped on the opponent and Ronaldo approached the referee and strongly protested. The referee ordered Rooney to leave, and Ronaldo winked at the Portuguese bench. After that, he showed his best chemistry on the field, but the luxury people thought differently. In particular, Rooney raised Lionel Messi's hand in the 「Meho Daejeon」, inferring that Rooney and Ronaldo would not have been on good terms.




I love Ronaldo. Rooney's surprise confession, which Messi picked in the Meho match, might eventually be the best
Reuters Yonhap News
But Rooney said in a conversation with Rio Ferdinand that `people think I hate Ronaldo"But I love him. People don't seem to know how close he and I were.' Rooney then praised Ronaldo. Rooney is "Ronaldo is a genius. I'm 40 years old, but I still do something incredible. Ronaldo is a killer. I want to pay my respects to him with all my heart."

Manchester United limited Rooney's role to save Ronaldo's scoring ability. Rooney responded, `I never thought it was a sacrifice. Of course it might look like that, but I wanted to win the championship.' Then "It's not at Ronaldo's level, but I also had a strong desire to win." But I wasn't interested in an individual award. The Ballon d'Or didn't mean anything. I just wanted to win. Of course, Ronaldo wanted to win, but he wanted everything."

I also mentioned once again the 'Meho Daejeon'. Rooney said "Messie showed more playfully. I liked the genius play that I could see for him. Some may like Ronaldo, others may like Messi. However, it's not a wrong choice to choose between the two, he said. "But I think Ronaldo, who has continued to move forward recently, can be the best."








This article was translated by Naver AI translator.