Wayne Rooney got revenge on the Portuguese by scoring in last night's Amsterdam Tournament game against Lisbon team Porto.
He then got HARSHLY sent off for catching Pepe in the face as he jumped for the ball. Paul Scholes, who is returning to play for England under new England coach Steve McClaren because he refused to play under Eriksson, was also red-carded.
Manchester United covincingly won the game.
Despite the game being only yesterday, United have to play again today.
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Rooney's off again
Rooney sees red and Scholes goes, too
IAN LADYMAN reports from Amsterdam
5th August 2006
Amsterdam Tournament
Manchester United 3-1 Porto
Calamity on the cards: Wayne Rooney catches Pepe in the face as he jumps for the ball and is instantly dismissed by referee Ruud Bossen despite the protests of Ole Gunner Solskjaer
Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes could miss the start of the season after both were sent off on a night of drama and controversy.
Rooney was dismissed for the second time against Portuguese opposition this summer when he marred the first half of United's 3-1 "friendly" win against Porto by pushing his open palm into defender Pepe's face during an aerial challenge.
Scholes was shown a straight red card for a tackle from behind on midfielder Ricardo Quaresma in the second half.
Both players face the prospect of three-match bans if Dutch referee Ruud Bossen includes the incidents in his match report and if the Dutch FA then forward it to their counterparts in England.
Rooney said: "I thought the referee was going to give a foul for me because of the defender backing in. I can't believe he has sent me off for that."
Such incidents are often overlooked during pre-season but with Rooney being one of the most high-profile footballers in the world, it is possible that what was judged to be an act of violent conduct could see him banned for three games.
If that is the case then Scholes will inevitably be banned too, although the FA were quick to point out last night that both players would have the right of appeal if the worst came to the worst.
Rooney's sending-off seemed harsh and was particularly badly timed, coming in only his second match back in action since his dismissal against Portugal in the World Cup quarter-final on July 1 and the day after he asked new England coach Steve McClaren if he could be considered for the captaincy of his country.
The 20-year-old will certainly receive the backing of his manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who was livid on the touchline as he saw his star player sent from the field.
United won the game through goals from Scholes, Rooney and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the first two coming in the first 20 minutes when the Premiership club still had 11 players on the field.
But Ferguson said: "The possibility of suspensions is a real worry for us but we just have to hope that fairness comes in to it as Wayne, in particular, should not have been sent off. The player made more of it than he should and I'm afraid that is endemic in our game.
"Just before that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had been elbowed and the referee did nothing so I'm not sure what he was thinking when he sent Wayne off. Paul Scholes can have no excuse, though. He went through the man from behind and did not get the ball."
Rooney can also claim his red card was a result of inconsistent refereeing in the four-team Amsterdam Tournament, as an eight-man brawl in the later game between Ajax and Inter Milan, which saw far more violent conduct, resulted only in yellow cards.
United's problems are piling up with the start of the new season only two weeks away.
Ferguson revealed yesterday that defenders Gary Neville, Gabriel Heinze and Nemanja Vidic are all carrying injuries that threaten their participation in the first Premiership game against Fulham, while Rio Ferdinand was removed from the starting line-up last night after suffering an injury to his right ankle during the warm-up.
Ferguson, who gave Michael Carrick his debut following his £18.6m move from Spurs, said: "Rio went over on the ankle and it's sore. It's a worry but I hope he'll be fit for the start of the season."
United are in action again tonight as they face Ajax before completing their pre-season schedule with a game at Oxford United on Tuesday and a home game against UEFA Cup winners Sevilla a week today.
Ferguson knows that Premiership champions Chelsea will once again be the team to beat this season, even if he did have a playful dig at the London club's decision to spend £35m on centre forward Andriy Shevchenko this summer.
The United manager said: "Look at us signing Eric Cantona for £1m and then see centre forwards like Shevchenko going these days for £35m. You have to ask yourself: is Shevchenko 35 times better than Cantona?"
England manager McClaren will name his captain next week and though it is expected to be Chelsea's John Terry he revealed that Rooney has thrown his hat in to the ring.
McClaren — who was present at the Amsterdam Arena last night — spoke to Rooney during a visit to United's training ground in Manchester on Thursday and revealed last night: "I saw Wayne yesterday and, typical of him, he put himself forward to be captain.
"But I've made my choice and it was very difficult because there are so many leaders in the team. I want a good communicator who is well-respected in the dressing room and can communicate with me."
Manchester City's Ben Thatcher was also dismissed for a second yellow card in a 1-0 victory over Shanghai Shenhua in China yesterday. Georgios Samaras scored the only goal.
Manchester United:
Van der Sar (Foster, 60), Bardsley, O’Shea (Simpson, 59), Brown, Evra, Park (Fletcher, 73), Carrick (Martin, 77), Scholes, Giggs (Richardson, 67), Rooney, Solskjaer.
Subs not used: D. Jones, Rossi, Miller.
The other result -
Ajax 1-1 Inter Milan
Today's games -
FC Porto v Inter Milan
19:00 hours CET
AFC Ajax v Manchester United
21:15 hours CET
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