Dynamic Rooney could not save England, says shocked Fergie

Last updated at 14:50 19 October 2007


Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted England's disastrous Euro 2008 defeat in Russia

caught him completely by surprise.

The Manchester United manager was watching on TV and at half-time, with the

visitors in front thanks to Wayne Rooney's superb strike, he felt there was no

way England would lose.

Scroll down to read more:

Sir Alex Ferguson

Instead, a mad four minutes turned the game on its head, leaving England on the

brink of a humiliating exit at the qualifying stage and his former assistant

Steve McClaren to face another barrage of intense abuse.

Ferguson is yet to phone McClaren to offer his commiserations. But, while the

result may have shocked the Scot, the vitriol which followed has not.

"There is no point me making a clarion call to get everyone behind Steve

McClaren," he said. "I have done that many times in the past.

"It seems that it is the nature of the business when you are England manager

that unfortunately you will get crucified no matter what happens.

"I watched the game and at half-time I felt there was no way England were

going to lose. I thought they were through.

"It was a surprise result to me because the first-half performance was

excellent but football does sometimes bite you in a nasty way."

Ferguson did defend Rooney though, after his striker came under fire for

conceding the penalty with his tug on Konstantin Zyryanov.

While TV replays showed the incident had happened outside the box, many

wondered why Rooney was in the left-back slot anyway and why he felt the need to

commit such an obvious offence.

"I thought Wayne was probably England's best player," said Ferguson. "But

his eagerness to help the team cost him.

"It was a foul but it was not a penalty. He didn't haul him back or anything.

The lad just took advantage of the situation."

No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now