UK: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: Absent Rooney overshadows Manchester United's Champions League win

Record ID: 336157

  • Title: UK: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: Absent Rooney overshadows Manchester United's Champions League win
  • Date: 21st October 2010
  • Summary: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (OCTOBER 20, 2010) (REUTERS) FERGUSON ENTERING THE PRESS CONFERENCE ROOM TV CAMERA MEDIA SOUNDBITE (English) ALEX FERGUSON, MANCHESTER UNITED MANAGER, SAYING "We will consider it all tomorrow, David Gill and I have a meeting at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. David Gill has spoken to the owners tonight. What is important that we put thi
  • Embargoed: 5th November 2010 12:00
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  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA693NCAX7MP1OJGFTVLABVWOC0
  • Story Text: Winger Nani's early strike gave Manchester United a 1-0 win over Bursaspor in Champions League Group C on Wednesday (October 20) as a subdued Old Trafford digested striker Wayne Rooney's confirmation that he wanted to leave the club.
    Portugal international Nani broke the deadlock in the seventh minute when he turned and ran towards goal before unleashing a fine curling shot from 20 metres out.
    The build-up to the match had been dominated by Rooney who said on Wednesday (October 20) that his future lay away from Old Trafford. The injured England striker did not play against Bursaspor.
    After the match, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson confirmed he will meet chief executive David Gill on Thursday (Octoiber 21) as he seeks to avoid Wayne Rooney's Old Trafford exit plans becoming a long running affair.
    "We will consider it all tomorrow, David Gill and I have a meeting at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. David Gill has spoken to the owners tonight. What is important that we put this to bed, we don't want it to become a saga. I'm the manager of a club that wants to win a game on Sunday against Stoke City, that is my most important thing, the rest is a bagatelle, believe me," he said.
    The England striker issued a statement on Wednesday saying the reason he wanted to leave was United's their lack of clout in the transfer market.
    Ferguson had a veiled warning for Rooney that leaving may not be the best thing for him.
    "Sometimes you look in a field and you see a cow that is better than the cow you have in your own field, its a fact right, and it never really works out that way, it probably the same cow or not even as good as your own cow. Some players think it is better to go somewhere else, and it never really works," he said Alex Ferguson, marking his 2,000th match as a professional soccer manager, had made five changes from the team that drew 2-2 against West Bromwich Albion in the league at the weekend, with 19-year-old Federico Macheda spearheading the attack.
    Victory kept United top of the group with seven points from three games, while Turkish champions Bursaspor remain rooted to the bottom with no points.
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