Spaniards Weary Of United ‘Hooligan On His Way To Blow Up The Bernabeu’

There is nothing new about hyperbole in football writing, everyone does it because it sells copy, but surely Marca lead the pack by a good distance!?

With Manchester United travelling to Madrid to face Jose Mourinho’s side in Wednesday’s knockout stage match, the hype around the match is building to incredible levels. The headlines write themselves; two of the biggest clubs going head to head, two of the best managers going head to head, Ronaldo’s return etc

But trust Real Madrid’s mouthpiece Marca to push the boundaries, and today the Spanish paper released a piece on their international website putting a different spin on the game.

Depicting Wayne Rooney, as well as United’s fans, as yobs the paper wrote:

A freckled demon, built like a barrel packed with gunpowder is on its way to Madrid to try to blow up the Bernabeu. Wayne Rooney is a football player and hooligan all rolled into one. To look at him you’d think he was one of the 4,000 British fans on the terraces, there to support United: yelling and drinking beer and jumping the queue to get in through Gate D.

They then proceeded to back up their argument citing an incident that happened almost 10 years ago when a teenage Rooney was involved in a fiery game against Spain at the Bernabeu. Neglecting to point out the role Spanish fans played in making the game so volatile with their racist chanting, they spoke of Rooney being subbed off to avoid him being red carded.

They neglected to mention that Rooney has calmed down and matured since that incident but that doesn’t matter!

They then spoke of the incident at the 2006 World Cup involving Ronaldo, Rooney and Carvalho claiming as a result a rift developed between Rooney & Ronaldo that lasted a long time.

A little embellishing to add credence to your story? No problem with that at all!

And finally pointed to a tweet Rooney sent following Pepe’s stomp on Lionel Messi’s hand (carefully described as an incident in which Pepe ‘trod’ on Messi’s hand) claiming Rooney stated:

“Pepe. What an idiot. Sometimes people really get on your nerves”

he actually wrote:

Pepe. What an idiot. Sometimes people wind u up.

— Wayne Rooney (@WayneRooney) January 18, 2012

But again don’t let the truth of what actually happened and what Rooney tweeted get in the way of an agenda!

So now following these incidents they believe the mentioned players have a score to settle with the ‘hooligan’ and will use the two legs to gain a measure of revenge, despite most of them coming into contact with Rooney since!

Well I guess Rooney will have to watch his back tomorrow then!