Manchester United’s record goalscorer Wayne Rooney has ended praise from former teammate Phil Neville over his handling of a racist incident when the two managers clashed at the weekend.
The highly contested affair that saw Neville’s Inter Miami defeat Rooney’s DC United 3-2 was a must-win for the former United defender, who was shown the exit door if he lost the game.
He won and he may have bought himself a new chance at life on the Inter Miami bench.
The exciting match led by the two Red Devils legends was marred by a racist incident in the 59th minute between DC’s Taxiarchis Fountas and Inter’s Damion Lowe.
The two were in a heated confrontation with Miami player DeAndre Yedlin accusing DC’s Fountas of calling Lowe “the N-word.”
The situation caused several minutes of delay while the referee deliberated with the captains and coaches on each side on how to handle the problem. This is after Miami players and staff refused to proceed with proceedings unless action was taken against the loathsome Fountas.
To Rooney’s credit, the player was removed, effectively ending his involvement with the game.
Neville said: “There was a racist comment that was unacceptable. A word was used that I think is unacceptable in society. I think it’s the worst word in the world. There is absolutely no place for racism on a football field or in society.”
Praising Rooney’s decisive action, “I have to give Wayne Rooney enormous, enormous respect for dealing with it the way he did.”
I’ve always known him as a class act, and today he rose in my estimation higher than ever, higher than any goal he’s ever scored.”
Rooney himself confirmed the occurrence of the incident. However, he refrained from further comment on the matter pending an investigation to be carried out.
DC United issued a statement promising its supporters that they would cooperate and work with MLS to get to the bottom of the matter.
