I was at Man Utd when Rooney and Ronaldo returned after 'the wink' – this is what happened

Former Manchester United star Wes Brown has revealed that there was 'never one argument' between Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo following their bust-up at the 2006 World Cup.

Speaking on Reach's new Euro Thrash podcast – which you can find on YouTube, Apple and Spotify – Brown said that once the two players returned to Manchester United after the fallout between England and Portugal, the pair simply 'got on with it'. Brown also added that a lot of the drama was instigated by the press but the lethal duo just carried on as usual.

"It's football and you do things in the heat of the moment. And you know what never happened? There was never one argument," Brown said. "They just knew to get back to the club and to the be the best players in the world. And we just got on with it. The press took a lot out of it, but them two as individuals just got on with it because there's no point in keeping on with stuff when it's gone."

ALSO READ: United have put Ten Hag on trail with Berrada and Ashworth to be judge and jury

ALSO READ: Ten Hag faces power shift struggle with Ineos over new United contract proposal

The drama unfolded as the 2006 World Cup quarter final between Portugal and England was on a knife edge. Chaos then ensured after referee Horacio Marcelo Elizondo showed a red card to England's Wayne Rooney – but nobody was quite sure as to why.

A replay then appeared to show that Rooney had stamped on Ricardo Carvalho. England were down to 10 men and ultimately lost the game on penalties, however the real controversy was in the moments following the red card.

As Elizondo brandished the card, following protests from the Portugal side, a small fracas broke out with United team-mates Rooney and Ronaldo clashing. Following the mini flare-up Ronaldo then winked and the seemingly innocuous act was pounced upon by the media and fans alike as a sign that Ronaldo had succeeded in getting England's star player dismissed.

Ronaldo quickly became public Enemy No.1 and the idea of the two United players meeting back at Carrington post World Cup became a huge talking point all summer. However Brown has admitted that despite Rooney's obvious disappointment, it had all blown over by the time the new season came around.

"Obviously Wayne would have been disappointed at the time. But when they all got back two, three, four weeks later, it had all gone by then," he said.

Brown conceded that Ronaldo was trying to get Rooney sent off but also said that it was standard practice, and there was nothing more to be read into the wink other than it being business as usual for the two professionals. "It was two lads and one was trying to get the other one sent off," Brown added.

"It's as simple as that. And then winking just to say, 'cheers mate, I see you in a few weeks back at the club'. That's honestly what happened and they just got on with it."

Watch and listen to Euro Thrash on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify with regular new episodes throughout Euro 2024