Rooney accused of diving by angry Slovenia

Wayne Rooney found himself embroiled in a diving controversy after the England striker’s tumble earned a controversial penalty in his side’s 2-1 friendly victory over Slovenia.

Just days after insisting he would never dive, Rooney was accused by Slovenia players of going to ground too easily following Bostjan Cesar’s tug on his shirt in the first half at Wembley on Saturday.

Cesar clearly pulled Rooney’s shirt briefly, but the contact didn’t seem strong enough to warrant the fall from the Manchester United star, who was also tugging on his opponent’s jersey.

Slovenia also complained that Rooney had fouled Cesar in the same incident, leaving the defender with an ankle injury that will keep him out of a World Cup qualifier against Poland in midweek.

With diving firmly on the agenda after Arsenal striker Eduardo’s two-match European suspension for deceiving the referee to a win a penalty in his side’s Champions League win over Celtic, it was no surprise that Slovenia’s players were unhappy to be the victims of another controversial decision.

Slovenia’s Aleksander Radosavljevic said: “Everybody knows it wasn?t a penalty – that’s the price you pay for being a small nation.

“We all saw Rooney tangle and kick our defender, we have to live with that. But the worst news is our defender is now out of Wednesday’s game.”

Robert Koren, Slovenia’s captain said: “We need to see the replay but we have been talking in the dressing room and we think it was not a penalty.

“This week there has been a lot of talking about diving, about Eduardo. I think Rooney went down a bit too easy and let’s see if someone will say something against him.”

For England coach Fabio Capello the penalty controversy was far less important than deciding who should choose to partner Rooney in Wednesday’s big game against Croatia.

Emile Heskey was again chosen to start against Slovenia but did little to impress, while Tottenham striker Defoe – who scored twice against Holland in England’s previous friendly – came off the bench to score his seventh goal of the season with an excellent finish.

“Jermain is on fire,” said Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard. “All week in training he’s looked really sharp and really dangerous. He’s given the manager something to think about.

“There’s real competition for places in the squad now and that’s crucial. It’s no good having a good team if you don’t have a good squad. You want players on the bench capable of pushing players in the starting eleven and we’ve certainly got that.”

England now go into their second match in four days ready to grab the three points that would automatically send them to the World Cup finals in South Africa, a real difference to November 2007 when they lost 3-2 at home to the same opposition to miss out on Euro 2008.

Gerrard believes England are in good shape following another home victory under Capello.

“Everyone knows this get-together was all about Wednesday but it was important we got a win. It was a good test before the big one,” he said.

“As for the penalty, Wayne thinks his shirt was pulled. I asked him straight away if there was any contact and he said he got dragged back.

“I’m sure it will be a lot more difficult on Wednesday and we’ll need to raise our game. But hopefully we’ll get the win we need to take us to the World Cup.

“We’ll be motivated by the memories of last time, we’ve got to be. A lot of us are still here from that result and there are players still hurting from that night.

“We’re confident we can win this time but we need to show Croatia a lot of respect. I’m sure we’ll be really motivated and up for it.”