Wayne Rooney made himself look a bit silly by saying striker Erling Haaland symbolizes the Three Lions ahead of the World Cup quarter-final between England and Norway.
Erling Haaland sent brutal message to Wayne Rooney (Image: Getty Images)
Erling Haaland reminded Wayne Rooney of his boat trip for the World Cup quarter-finals between England and Norway. The Three Lions legend famously bet that if the Scandinavian side beat Brazil in the Round of 16, they would row the River Mersey.
He said: “If Norway makes it to the quarter-finals, I’m going to go into the Mersey and row down it.”
And they did just that, with two goals from Haaland propelling Norway to the quarter-finals for the first time in their history. And their Starman reminded Rooney of his promise.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s quarter-final, he said: “I’m looking forward to seeing Wayne, Wayne Rooney boy. I’m looking forward to seeing Wayne Rooney rowing for Liverpool. That’s all I want to see right now. Wayne Rooney, I’m looking forward to seeing you go on your rowing journey.”
Meanwhile, Rooney also claimed to have discussed his bet days after Norway’s shock victory and tried to get several colleagues on board. After being reminded by presenter Kelly Cates, he said:
Rooney added: “I’m a man of my word. Mika (Richards) agreed to work with me.”
“We’re a team. The one thing I can say is, we’re doing so much that when we’re in New York it might have to be the Hudson River, if the BBC can classify it.”
Fellow critic Joe Hart claimed he was going to row with Rooney, saying, “I’ll row the Hudson River with you.”
Rooney’s embarrassment didn’t end there. BBC Sport then mocked up a graphic of the former forward rowing down the River Mersey in an England shirt, with the Liverpool skyline visible in the background, and the caption: “To you.”
Rooney’s bet was inspired by Norway’s iconic boating festival (Image: Getty Images)
Despite Rooney’s promise, Metro Mayor Steve Rotherham appears to have slightly different ideas for completing Rooney’s forfeiture.
“How about this instead? We’re going to get rowboats, or in a few months we’re going to launch the brand new £26m Mersey Ferry. How about we trade the oars for a captain’s chair?”
Rooney’s first bet was inspired by Norway’s post-match rowing celebration at the World Cup, which went viral. One athlete beats the drum in time with the fans and the athletes pretending to row.
England fans will be hoping there will be no celebrations after Saturday’s match in Miami. The winner of that match will advance to the semifinals in Atlanta on Wednesday, where they will face either Switzerland or Argentina.
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