In the wake of mounting tension between Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, the Englishman has seemingly aimed another subtle dig at his former teammate, saying he would take Lionel Messi over the Portuguese.
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For days now, there has been a something of a back-and-forth between the two Manchester United legends as they trade verbal jabs with each other.
The digs come off the back of Ronaldo's controversial interview with Piers Morgan, during which the 37-year-old insinuated that England's all-time top goalscorer is a "rat" and that he was after Instagram followers with his recent criticism of the Portugal captain.
In a first dig at his former colleague, Rooney responded to his comments by categorising them, and the interview in its entirety, as "strange", before saying that he thought that Lionel Messi was always the better of the two football icons.
Prior to Qatar kicking off the global showpiece against Ecuador on Sunday, the Red Devils' all-time top goalscorer doubled down on his stance regarding the great Messi and Ronaldo debate.
When asked who would make his best XI of all time between the Argentine, his former teammate and Three Lions captain Harry Kane, Rooney left out the five-time Ballon d'Or winner altogether.
"I'd have to start Messi, bench Kane and leave Ronaldo out," the 37-year-old said, as per Indian TV network JioCinema.
When rationalising his decision to leave the former Real Madrid man out, he said: "He's not playing for his club, so..."
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It seems likely that Ronaldo has played his final game for United following his explosive interview last week, but his attention will now be focused on helping his home nation lift the famous World Cup trophy for the first time.
Portugal's campaign kicks off with a tough Group H encounter against Ghana on Thursday.
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