Source: PA
Rio - Lay off Rooney
Rio Ferdinand accepts Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney has made mistakes - but he does not understand why the striker is rivalling events in Libya and Ivory Coast for front-page billing.
Rooney will on Thursday discover the extent of his punishment for the four-letter outburst at West Ham on Saturday that threatens a to rule him out of the FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City at Wembley on April 16.
He put his problems behind him on Wednesday evening, netting the only goal in a 1-0 Champions League quarter-final first-leg win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge that leaves United favourites to book a last-four clash with either Inter Milan or, more probably, Schalke later this month.
"Wayne Rooney swearing on TV, as much as I don't condone it, is not front page news," said Ferdinand.
"There are bigger things going on in the world. There are things happening in Libya and Ivory Coast and we are talking about Wayne Rooney on the front page of newspapers because he swore at a camera.
"We should follow him as a footballer rather than keep lynching him for a lot of the stuff that goes on. I wouldn't say he is innocent in a lot of the stuff that has happened but sometimes because of who he is the reaction can be over the top."
