Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has revealed that he kept the match ball from United’s Champions League final defeat to Barcelona, adding that he got Lionel Messi to sign it.
Manchester United and Barcelona met in the 2011 Champions League final at Wembley Stadium in London. Barcelona completely outclassed Manchester United, securing a 3-1 victory. Lionel Messi, Pedro, and David Villa each scored a goal for Pep Guardiola’s outfit, while Rooney netted United’s only goal on the night.
Despite enduring a heavy defeat in the final, Rooney took the match ball home. The former England international further revealed that he got Lionel Messi, Pedro, and Villa to sign the ball, and added his own signature as well to commemorate the occasion.
“At the end, I grabbed the ball and sought out Lionel Messi, David Villa, and Pedro — Barcelona’s scorers,” Rooney penned in The Times.
“I got them to sign it and, as the scorer of United’s goal, put my own signature on it too. I still have the ball in my house.”
Disclosing why he took the ball home, Rooney added:
“Why would I do something like that? We’d lost a final and I was gutted but I also had this sense of having been part of something special.
“It was a feeling that I had just shared a pitch with some of the greatest players who ever played. Barcelona were incredible and Messi was the catalyst for all of it.”
It was Barcelona’s second win over Manchester United in the Champions League final in three years. The previous one came in 2009 in Rome, where Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi found the back of the net to propel the Blaugrana to a 2-0 victory.
Brazilian World Cup winner Kleberson urges Manchester United to sign Goncalo Ramos
Kleberson, who won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002, has backed Manchester United to sign Portugal forward Goncalo Ramos. According to the former United player, his old club requires someone who can pop up with important goals, and he believes Ramos could be that player.
Manchester United are reportedly to make an enquiry about the availability of Benfica’s Portugal striker Goncalo Ramos, 21, although manager Erik ten Hag has been told it is not certain a striker will arrive in January. #MUFC #TenHag #GoncaloRamos https://t.co/gSwuQ5rylC
Speaking to Ladbrokes, he said:
“They need someone who can come in and get goals.
“Even if it takes that player a little while to get used to whatever system the manager wants to play, they need a guaranteed goalscorer. Goncalo Ramos, the Portuguese kid, can be that guy.”
Kleberson even backed Ramos to be the next Cristiano Ronaldo.
“He’s really young, but he’s already shown us what he’s capable of, on the biggest stage of all at the World Cup, scoring a hat-trick against Switzerland,” he continued.
“The way he plays, and how he moves and interacts with his teammates… he could be their new Cristiano Ronaldo.”
Ramos started ahead of Ronaldo in the 2022 FIFA World Cup round-of-16 clash against Switzerland and scored a superb hat-trick to propel Portugal to a 6-1 win. He also provided an assist to cap off a perfect World Cup debut.
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