'Play, Bench, Drop': Wayne Rooney Takes Swipe At Ronaldo With Messi Statement

FIFA WC 2022 Qatar: Rooney was asked to play a unique 'Play, Bench, Drop game' and was given three names - Ronaldo, Messi and Harry Kane.

Days after Cristiano Ronaldo's "rat" jibe at Wayne Rooney, Manchester United great on Sunday took a jibe at former teammate Ronaldo. Before the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup opener, Rooney was asked to play a unique 'Play, Bench, Drop game' and was given three names - Ronaldo, Messi and Harry Kane.

On this, Rooney talked about dropping Ronaldo, starting with Lionel Messi and giving rest to Harry Kane. Without much hesitation, Rooney picked Messi as the player would start with and he stated that he would bench the England captain and drop Ronaldo.

“I would start Messi, bench Kane and drop Ronaldo because he stopped playing for his club,” the former England captain said.

Earlier, in his interview to Piers Morgan, Ronaldo slammed Rooney for criticising him in the media and said that it was out of jealousy. The "rat" jibe followed next after Morgan said, "I'm just trying to work out how Wayne Rooney could hate you even more."

Ronaldo answered: "Not only him, imagine the rest of the rats they are going to criticise me too, but it is good to still be the No 1."

Talking about Rooney's question, he backed Kane to overtake him as England’s top scorer.

“He is a goal-scorer. If England goes far in this tournament, it is going to be because of Harry Kane. I hope he scores those goals because England needs them if they have to win,” said Rooney, adding it will be a tough contest against Iran but predicted a 1-0 win for England.

“I hope he does, but I do not think it will be tomorrow (Monday),” said Rooney if Kane could overtake him in the match against Iran tonight.

England will be facing Iran in a Group B match at the Khalifa International Stadium on Monday. England should be the clear favorites to breeze through into the last 16 of the FIFA World Cup, and a possible three straight wins will allow Gareth Southgate's side to gain confidence ahead of the knockout rounds.

On paper, England has a better squad and record than Wales, the United States, and Iran. They qualified for Qatar with no real problems and travelled as the European Championship runners-up.