Former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has further explained why he is on Lionel Messi’s side in the age-old Greatest Of All Time debate against Cristiano Ronaldo.
Former Chelsea winger Eden Hazard recently claimed that he considers himself to be a better ‘pure footballer’ than the Ronaldo. Rooney has supported the Belgian’s statement while speaking to YouTubers Lyes Bouzidi and CultureCams.
The former England striker said: “So for instance, Cristiano Ronaldo, his mindset is goals. He doesn’t care about anything else, it’s goals, that’s all he wants. Whereas you look at Messi, he wants to play a bit more.
“I suppose that’s what Hazard is saying, he liked to play – exactly like myself. I saw something that Gary Neville said recently, that Alex Ferguson always used to have a go at me for coming too deep, but it was because I wanted to play football. And I could have been a bit more selfish and stayed up top, and maybe scored a few more goals, but I wanted to play. I wanted to enjoy the game and I imagine that’s what Hazard means.”
Ronaldo had tongue lashed his former colleagues Rooney and Neville in an interview with Piers Morgan in 2022, and went on to claim that he no longer considers the duo as his friends after they criticised him towards the end of his second stint with Manchester United.
