Rooney [R]

[USSF REF]

Well well well, what do we have here?

Rooney was sent off. I don't know if it was for the testicualr stomp, OR for pushing Ronaldo after he tried to get Rooney carded.

I think it was the later because he waited very long if he was sending him off for the first offense.

Agree, disagree? Why?

(please refrain from "our team is being screwed over" arguments, just evaluate the decision on what happened, thanks.)

[Tejas]

Looked completely like incidental contact.

Rooney's a hothead but he would have to be omniscient to have been able to do that on purpose.

Chalk up another ************ call that probably decides a game outcome.


Maybe in the next cup we can just have the refs run up and down the field blowing whistles without the players on it?

[FMF_LFP]

Rooney is an IDIOT pubercent immature children , wtf ? was he thinking . Yet, again with his national team he puts them in a bad predicament. I had hopes the young lad would mature some but apparrently he ahsnt learned form thye past. Hes starting to become a huge liability for the
English side.

[Tigerpunk]

Looked completely like incidental contact.

Rooney's a hothead but he would have to be omniscient to have been able to do that on purpose.

Chalk up another ************ call that probably decides a game outcome.

It was the right call, you can't stomp on people's nuts.

Of course, to the degree the referee has to make a judgment call, then going ahead and pushing a Portugese guy doesn't make it any better. Way to get the ref on your side. Even if it was a yellow card, that's a second yellow card - he still gets sent off.

[pepsi]

I think it was harsh considering that it wasn't very easy to see if it was intentional or not

What i find strange about it is, the ref never looked like giving a red card for it, and i wonder if he heard something in his ear peice about the push Rooney gave one of the Portugeuse players and decided to upgrade him from a yellow

I think just for the initial incident, it should have been a yellow, however due to the circumstances and the incident, the red was at least partly justified

[B Rock]

I think it was harsh considering that it wasn't very easy to see if it was intentional or not

Exactly. If you are going to make a red card call which for all intensive purposes decides the game considering England's ineptitude on PKs you have to be absolutley sure that it was intentional.

I've seen the play 5 times and am in no way sure either way, Rooney was still tustling for the ball with another player.

You hate to see a referee decide the game unless he absolutey has to, and in this instance he most certainly did not.

I thought he had a shocking game, his decision to recognize the dive by Ronaldo in the 1st half but not to book him on it opened up the rest of the game to Portugese antics which we've become all too familiar with.

[Englishref]

I'm pretty certain it was for the push. He never flinched, not when he gave the free kick, nor even when Ronaldo rushed in to get him booked. It was only when Rooney stupidly pushed Ronaldo that he reacted and called Rooney over. And for me, that push was never a RC.

[ZipSix]

It can't be for the push. The push was nothing.

Stamping on someone's privates though? That will get you sent off everytime.

See ya roo.

[NGV]

Of course, to the degree the referee has to make a judgment call, then going ahead and pushing a Portugese guy doesn't make it any better. Way to get the ref on your side. Even if it was a yellow card, that's a second yellow card - he still gets sent off.
Yeah, the ref will be less likely to give the benefit of the doubt on the intentionality question to a player with an obvious anger management problem.

If it was for the stomp, I think it was justified - it looked intentional to me on the replay. If it was for the shove, it was unjustified.

[bestianera]

I hope it's not for the shove, unless it's a second consecutive yellow.
Otherwise it's only a matter of intention, and the referee (an excellent one) was in the best position of all of us to determine that

[pasoccerdave]

The groin step appeared to me to be completely accidental - look how hard Rooney was trying to win the ball, fighting 2 players for 10 - 15 seconds. I thought the card was a combination of the push, followed by a verbal assault on the referee. That's pure speculation on my part, as the ref's back was to Rooney when the "stomp" occurred, and I find it hard to believe an AR had a sufficient angle to judge malicious intent.

JMO. YMMV.

[MaraDoyle]

I hope it's not for the shove, unless it's a second consecutive yellow.
Otherwise it's only a matter of intention, and the referee (an excellent one) was in the best position of all of us to determine that

I'm with you on this. A yellow for the first offense and a second one for the push. I think the ref got it right.

[lanman]

I'm with you on this. A yellow for the first offense and a second one for the push. I think the ref got it right.

But Rooney was given a straight red, not two yellows. So that theory can be ruled out.

Regardless of the red card, the fact that he gave a free kick to Portugal when Rooney had clearly been manhandled in the build up shows that he did not know exactly what was going on.

[MidwestRef]

I think Rooney knew exactly what he was doing. Yes, he just happened to step/stomp on the guy's groin, but I do think the intent was there. I also think Elizondo gave straight red for the stomp. He was very calm and in control and seemed to have a very good look at the stomp. He was trying to get to Rooney before the dust-up.

With the exception of both keepers coming off of their lines too early a few times (I thought Ricardo's first save of Lampard was illegal and the ball off the post for Portugal was a time Robinson came off the line), I thought Elizondo and crew were very good. Judicious use of cards, and a VERY gutsy non-call on the Portugal challenge that was the 100% right call. Simply put, I thought Elizondo's effort was worthy of the magnitude of the game.

[GoldenDiveAward]

Chalk it up to more inconsistency in the refereeing department. They're brutal. Its the worse I've ever seen. Plus not one player has shown any respect to any one of them. I don't even like England yet I had to feel a bit sorry for Rooney, I guess two guys grabbing your shirt trying to haul you down isn't a foul.

Atrocious calls every game. Its terrible.

[Heinz]

the call was kinda harsh but on the other side, at least this will stop some people from saying rooney is world class :)

[lanman]

the call was kinda harsh but on the other side, at least this will stop some people from saying rooney is world class :)

???

Zidane was sent off for a stamp in 98 but was heralded after the tournament.

[Heinz]

Zidane scored goals that helped France to lift the WC. Rooney did nothing except throwing his shoes when being subbed off and getting red card

[Jabinho]

It was the right call, you can't stomp on people's nuts.
"I agree!"

http://www.bradmesser.com/images2005a/squirrel_nuts.jpg

[lanman]

Zidane scored goals that helped France to lift the WC. Rooney did nothing except throwing his shoes when being subbed off and getting red card

And Rooney never got that chance. The incident does nothing to disprove Rooney's abilities as a player.