Rio rejects Keane's World Cup taunt

Rio Ferdinand today defended himself and his England World Cup colleagues against criticism from his controversial Manchester United team-mate Roy Keane.

Rio Ferdinand today defended himself and his England World Cup colleagues against criticism from Roy Keane.

Keane pinpointed England’s apparent gratitude at swapping shirts after their quarter-final defeat by Brazil in Japan last summer as symptomatic of a team who were satisfied to settle for a last-eight showing.

Ferdinand came by two shirts belonging to the subsequent World Cup winners - those of Rivaldo and Roberto Carlos.

He has since given them to his younger brother – and insists they are in no way a worthwhile consolation for defeat.

Ferdinand believes he and England on the other hand had a good campaign.

He told The Sun: “I thought we did reasonably well at the World Cup. But, having got so far, going out was hard to take.

“Nobody was more upset by what happened than the players – and a Brazil shirt as a memento does not make up for it, I can assure you.

“If Roy says such things it‘s not a problem to me. He says what he feels and I like that in a player.

“He impresses me because he‘s very honest and says things as he sees them. It‘s just on this occasion I don‘t agree with him.”

Ferdinand also dismisses the notion that Keane, who has accused his United team-mates of being more interested in their cars, houses and watches than winning games, has created a dressing room split.

“As far as I can see there is no animosity going on in the dressing room at United,” he said.

“Everything is thoroughly professional at training and when we are at games. Roy likes to say his piece on the field to everybody within earshot but that‘s fine.

“You need certain characters like that to give everyone a jolt.”