
Wayne Rooney dives have become every bit as much a part of the modern game as Luis Suárez dives and Ashley Young dives, so it was jolly reassuring to see the Manchester United forward taking a turfwards tumble to get Bayern Munich’s Bastian Schweinsteiger sent off the other night.
Of course, Rooney has denied conspiring to take the German midfielder out of the Champions League quarter-final second leg through dishonest means, saying:
I thought it was a foul. If I didn’t get out of the way he could have hurt me. I didn’t try to get him sent off. He’s gone in with his studs and the referee has booked him, so it’s not my decision.
Now that’s the kind of brass-necked justification we really dig on these pages. In fact, check out this doozy of a quote from 2006…
I’d never dive. I’d like to think of myself as an honest player. That’s the way I play. I don’t like diving, football doesn’t need it.
Chortle! Join us in looking back over ten classic Wayne Rooney dives from the past decade, starting with Tuesday night’s edition…
Wayne Rooney dive v Bayern Munich, April 2014
Wayne Rooney dive v Manchester City, April 2012
Wayne Rooney dive v Aston Villa, December 2011
Wayne Rooney dive v Chelsea, March 2011
Wayne Rooney dive v Rangers, November 2010
Wayne Rooney dive v Slovenia, September 2009
Wayne Rooney dive v Arsenal, August 2009
Wayne Rooney dive v Blackburn Rovers, April 2008
Wayne Rooney dive v Tottenham Hotspur, February 2008
Wayne Rooney dive v Arsenal, October 2004
Rooney also dived twice against Villareal in a November 2008 Champions League match – and furthermore owned up to his, er, “out-of-character antics” – but we can’t find a video of those.
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