Capello to Calm Rooney Down

  • 30 May 2008

England boss Fabio Capello admits he plans talks with Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney over his performance against the USA on Wednesday.

A first-half challenge on Ricardo Clark was followed by a similarly shocking second-half tackle on Frankie Hejduk and the yellow card he was shown could so easily have been red.

"I have to keep him on the pitch for 90 minutes so I have to speak to him," said Capello. "I have to explain to him that he must not do these tackles.

"I saw the same thing from him in training. On Tuesday in the last session, it was the same. It is normal for him and I told him that. But I was worried for the other players. I like that desire, yes. Great players work with good quality but they also run hard and do not fear making a tackle.

"You cannot play without commitment and when you need to play, with that commitment, you tackle very hard. That is something he showed. But both those tackles were possible yellow cards."

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