“For me, Wayne Rooney, he failed in terms of that” - When Nemanja Vidic made assessment of Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney
Former Manchester United centre-back Nemanja Vidic once reckoned Wayne Rooney failed to 'fight' for his dream as much as Cristiano Ronaldo did. The trio played together at Old Trafford between 2004 and 2009 before Ronaldo left for Real Madrid.
Together, the three players won three straight Premier League titles and the 2008 UEFA Champions League, among other honours. While Rooney would go on to become United's all-time top scorer with 253 goals, Vidic also enjoyed a successful near decade-long stint aat the club.
On his former centre-back partner Rio Ferdinand's Vibe with Five podcast (via GOAL) in April 2023, Vidic noted how Ronaldo's work ethic and desire to be the best differentiated him from the rest, something Rooney could have taken a leaf out of:
"You see Cristiano on Instagram, it's all flashy stuff but he deserves it. At his age, 18, 19, to 21 to have that mentality to work hard, not go out, fight for your dream, the way he did it he deserves everything he got. For me, Wayne Rooney, he failed in terms of that.
"He is the one I think, if he was closer in mentality as Cristiano Ronaldo he can achieve much more. Definitely, that is my feeling. Physically, he was amazing, technically as well. He is a great teammate on the pitch, him and Carlos Tevez, as a defender you want them on the pitch. They worked hard for the team."
Currently at Al-Nassr, Ronaldo has enjoyed a superb start to the season, scoring in all four games across competitions, while Rooney and Vidic have long since retired.
A look at how Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney fared together at Manchester United
As mentioned earlier, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney enjoyed a successful spell at Manchester United. The duo played 206 games together across competitions, combining for a joint 25 goal contributions, with Ronaldo scoring 11 of them.
Their last joint goal contribution came in the 3-1 2008-09 UEFA Champions League semi-final second-leg win at Arsenal, with Rooney setting up Ronaldo's second of the game to give the holders a 3-0 lead on the night.
Rooney and Ronaldo's last game together was the Champions League final in Rome that year against Barcelona. A 2-0 defeat to the Blaugrana denied Sir Alex Ferguson's men a slice of European history: the chance to become the first back-to-back champions in the Champions League era.