England forward Wayne Rooney, in an pre-tournament interaction has said that given

a choice between starting, benching and dropping Lionel Messi

Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane, he would ‘start Messi, bench Kane and drop Ronaldo’.

This is the first time Rooney spoke on television after Ronaldo’s explosive interview to Piers Morgan

where he had castigated his former Manchester United teammates Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney.

While Rooney had criticised Ronaldo’s attitude after Man United’s game against

Tottenham Hotspur where he left the dugout before full-time,

which received a fiery response from the Portuguese, in his interview.

“I don’t know why he criticises me so badly.

probably because he finished his career and I’m still playing at high level,”

Ronaldo said in an interview with The Sun.