Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand criticised club captain Wayne Rooney over his late-night drinking antics. The 31-year-old, who is England's all-time leading goal scorer, was photographed at a wedding party whilst on International duty and the England skipper reportedly indulged himself in drinking. The incident took place in the early hours of the day after England’s 3-0 win over Scotland and since then, Rooney has found his name on the front pages of the English newspapers for the wrong reasons.
Rio Ferdinand had his say on the controversy and he is of the opinion that Rooney was being his own nemesis. “If you look at the elite players like Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar and [Gareth] Bale, the difference with those players, and Wayne and the mistake that he made, is publicly doing it,” Ferdinand told BT Sport. "You wouldn't see those players out until five in the morning absolutely off their head. That's because either they're protecting themselves and doing it a different way or they're completely football first and that governs their life."
Following this bizarre episode, Rooney issued a public apology to interim manager Gareth Southgate. The English FA didn’t hold back in criticising their skipper and they have launched an investigation to find out about the possible involvement of any of the backroom staff in the scandal.
Rooney came on as a substitute against United’s recent Premier League fixture against Arsenal on Saturday and the 31-year-old spoke to the media after the game. The former Everton player labelled the media’s treatment of him as a disgrace.
"It feels as if the media are trying to write my obituary and I won't let that happen," Rooney said. "What has been going on is disgraceful. I'm proud to play for my country and I'm proud of my achievements. It's not finished yet. I think what's been going on is disgraceful. It shows a lack of respect and I think enough is enough. That's all I want to say."
Rooney’s drinking antics was not the only controversial incident that happened among the English players during the international break as Liverpool duo Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana visited a strip club in Bournemouth, three days before England’s 2-2 draw against Spain. However, they are likely to escape punishment from the Football Association and in the light of this embarrassing situation, the English FA have decided to ban their players from having nights out whilst on international duty.
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