Sven-Goran Eriksson showed true colours with Wayne Rooney England message after World Cup stamp
The late former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson pleaded with the English media and fans to stick by Wayne Rooney in an emotional backing of the then-20-year-old
Sven-Goran Eriksson pleaded with the English media and fans not to “kill” Wayne Rooney after he was sent off in the 2006 World Cup.
The former England manager – who died from cancer on Monday, aged 76 – led an England team at the 2006 World Cup in Germany hopeful of ending 40 years of hurt.
The Swede took England to back-to-back quarter-finals at the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004 against hosts Portugal – and had the chance to take revenge over the latter two years later.
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However, England were once again eliminated on penalties against Portugal in the quarter-finals, with the headlines stolen for all the wrong reasons by then-20-year-old Rooney, who was sent off after 61 minutes for stamping on Chelsea's Ricardo Carvalho.
The defeat was Eriksson’s final game in charge of England, and speaking to the press afterwards, he pleaded with the media and fans not to crucify Rooney in the same way in which David Beckham had been treated after his red card against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup quarter-final.
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"You, more than me, need Wayne Rooney in the next few years so, please, pay attention, don't kill him, I beg you," he said. "Whether he did it intentionally or not, leave it. Take it easy with Rooney, for your own sake. You need him, so take care of him.
“You will need him in qualifying for Euro 2008 and you will need him to win it. He is the golden boy of English football. So, please, make it easier for him to come back than it was for Beckham. I have no hard feelings with him. None at all and nor should you."
After Beckham was sent off eight years earlier, he would receive death threats and a sickening effigy in his England shirt hanging was made.
Thankfully, Rooney wasn't subjected to the abhorrent treatment Beckham received, with a lot of the blame being put on his Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo for his infamous wink.
Eriksson had reflected on his chances at becoming a World Cup-winning manager with the Three Lions, admitting that the team were good enough to go all the way. "We should have made the final.
I don't think any team, at that time, were better than us. And I still don't think there was any team better. No one," Eriksson said.
"I thought it before the tournament, I thought it during the tournament, I thought it after the tournament, I think it today. That was the mood of the players as well. That's history now. So... It was a pity. That's gone."