Rafael praises Wayne Rooney's role in Ronaldo's rise to eminence at Manchester United

Brazilian footballer Rafael da Silva has reminded everyone of the changes Wayne Rooney had to make due to Cristiano Ronaldo, during their time playing together in Manchester United. Reminding everyone of the importance of Rooney to the team and Ronaldo’s success, Rafael said that people do forget the club legend sometimes. Rooney and Ronaldo were the two most prominent attackers of the Manchester United team that lifted the Champions League trophy in 2008 and reached the finals in 2009. However, Ronaldo grabbed the most headlines by scoring buckets of goals and went on to win the coveted Ballon d’Or award for the first time in 2008, whereas during that time Rooney had been moved to the left wing where he was very effective in order to accommodate other centre-forwards like Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov.

As per Manchester Evening News, the Brazilian, who was an up-and-coming youngster at the time and played right-back behind Ronaldo, shed his thoughts on the now Derby County manager Rooney in a new biography on the latter's life, 'Rooney: Teenage Kicks – The street footballer who ruled the world,' being serialized by MEN Sport. The book is written by Wayne Barton. Rafael mentioned that Rooney and Ronaldo’s playing styles complimented each other and added, “I think Rooney did a lot, he almost changed his style because of Ronaldo scoring so many goals. Rooney kept scoring but he dropped back to create more and make more assists. He’s such an intelligent player. He could play midfield, on the wing, defensive midfield. He could even play right-back, I’m sure”. 

"Even a player like Ronaldo can’t do it all alone," says Rafael da Silva

At the same time, appreciating Wayne Rooney for his contribution, Rafael said, “Rooney made a great pass. Without him, without Park (ji Sung), that goal (likely referring to a blistering counter-attack in the 2009 semifinal against Arsenal away) doesn’t exist. That's the truth of football – you need those other players. Even a player like Ronaldo can’t do it all alone”. The Brazilian footballer continued praising Rooney and said that his knowledge and understanding of the game was of such greatness that he would do it and already appreciate everything that it takes to play.

Rooney joined Manchester United in 2004, a year after Ronaldo arrived at Old Trafford. Both players took their time, but went on to constitute one of the most feared attacking lineups during that period. The duo was separated in 2009 after Ronaldo decided to move to Real Madrid, while Rooney continued playing for the United till 2017. In the year after Ronaldo's exit, Rooney took over the goal-scoring responsibilities and steered United to a heart-breaking Champions League semi-final exit at the hands of Bayern Munich. While Rooney took up the manager’s role of Derby County after retiring from football as a player, Ronaldo made his return to Old Trafford after getting roped in by the team in the Summer Transfer Window 2021.

(Image: AP)