Soccer: Rooney deserved red card, says referee

LONDON - The referee who sent off England's Wayne Rooney during their quarter-final loss has said he was not influenced by protests from the Portuguese players.

Rooney was shown a red card in the 62nd minute for a clash with Ricardo Carvalho.

"It was violent play and therefore he got a red card," Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo told the Times.

Portugal's Christian Ronaldo rushed 40m to the referee, apparently to demand a card for Rooney who had battled his way through two players and trod on Carvalho's groin as he tried to disentangle himself.

Rooney pushed Ronaldo, his Manchester United teammate, who was captured on TV cameras winking at his bench as the England forward walked off the pitch.

"People can say what they want but this had absolutely no influence," Elizondo said.

"In general I don't pay much attention to that sort of thing ... For me it was a clear red card, so I didn't react to the Portuguese players.

"There was pushing and shoving on both sides but for me it wasn't a reason to caution anybody."

Elizondo said: "Sven-Goran Eriksson went into the locker room after the match and congratulated me for an excellent performance and said that I was right to send Rooney off because it was rough play."

- REUTERS