Rio Ferdinand has criticised the England supporters who booed Wayne Rooney during Saturday’s World Cup qualifying win over Malta.
Rooney, starting in midfield, was booed by a portion of the 81,000 crowd after he over-hit a pass during a moribund second-half at Wembley.
The England captain has lost his place in the Manchester United side and Rooney’s place for the national side also appears to be in jeopardy. Jordan Henderson was man of the match against Malta, playmaker Dele Alli scored and Eric Dier could return in Slovenia on Tuesday.
Ferdinand, who was booed by United supporters during his contract wrangle in 2005, played with Rooney for a combined 16 years for United and England and has once again leapt to the defence of his friend.
Ferdinand wrote on Twitter: “Its [sic] that time again guys… Wayne Rooney spotlight! Booing at the stadium too…come on guys, booing?? Liberty.”
At Hull in August, Ferdinand tweeted his support for Rooney moments after he assisted Marcus Rashford for a late winner.
“Bring off Wayne Rooney gang where are you????” Rooney had performed poorly up until his cross, with several United supporters calling for Jose Mourinho to substitute the United captain.
Rooney is England’s highest goalscorer with 53 goals and is eight caps short of equalling Peter Shilton’s record haul of 125.
The Merseysider has already confirmed he will retire from international duty after the 2018 World Cup in Russia, if he is selected to participate in the tournament.
Download our new Manchester United News app now.
Video loading
Click to play Tap to play
The Live Event you are trying to watch is either unavailable or has not started Please refresh this page in your browser to reload this live event video
Spread the love & Comment on Social Media !