Rooney Hopes Ronaldo Fails

Wayne Rooney says it would be 'nice' if ex-teammate Cristiano Ronaldo wasn't at the World Cup!

After being kncoked out of World Cup 2006 and Euro 2004 by the Portuguese, its understandable that Wayne doesn't want to meet them in the Finals again, but it would be a crying shame if the best player in the world wasn't centre stage!

"People say it will not be the same, but I'm really not bothered if Cristiano is there or not. In fact, it would nice to not see Portugal there because the last two tournaments they have knocked us out.

"I would like to get back to the standard I set in 2004. Ronaldo found ways he could improve until he was the best player in the world. He worked hard in the gym, he got tougher, he used to be smaller physically but he changed his shape. I would like to improve in other ways - I could get better at link-up play, I could score more goals, particularly with my head.

"At United everyone said Ronaldo didn't run back or defend, but when you see what he did, he was that good going forward, the rest of the team had to make up for him at the back.

"I've watched Ronaldo's first few games for Real Madrid and he seems to have improved again. He is even passing the ball a bit more now. He is definitely the best in the world."