ENGLAND manager Sven-Goran Eriksson urged media and fans not to launch a hate campaign against Wayne Rooney after the youngster's World Cup sending-off. Rooney was shown the red card against Portugal in Saturday's epic quarter-final as England went on to lose in a heart-breaking penalty shoot-out. The flashpoint immediately brought comparisons to the dismissal of David Beckham at the 1998 World Cup, which was followed by a year of vicious abuse on his return to England. But Eriksson begged England's press and fans not to whip up a similar feeding frenzy over 20-year-old Rooney, who was given his marching orders after stamping on Ricardo Carvalho in the 62nd minute. "I think that you, much more than me, need Wayne Rooney," said Eriksson. "He is the golden boy of English football, so don't kill him. "If he did it with intention or not, leave it -- you need him for the qualification games and to win Euro 2008. I have no hard feelings." Eriksson revealed he had spoken to referee Horacio Elizondo after the game and had "no complaints" about the decision to send Rooney off. "I spoke to Wayne after the game and he had no intention to do it," Eriksson said. "I also went to the referee to speak and he was 100 per cent sure it was a red card. He told me he hit the other player and where he was hit so I can't complain about that." Beckham, who along with Rooney and Ray Wilkins are the only England players ever to be sent off in a World Cup, said Rooney should not be blamed. "I haven't even seen the incident on TV. But I do know that 10 seconds before there were two players on his back. If the referee had seen that, he couldn't have sent him off," Beckham said. Beckham, who quit as England captain Sunday, said he hoped Rooney did not suffer the same sort of vilification that he received following his 1998 sending-off against Argentina. "Will he be vilified like me? Who knows. But I hope not. Wayne is the future of the team. He'll pick himself," he said. Gary Neville, who is Rooney's captain at Manchester United, said the striker was heartbroken but would get over it. "He is a colleague at club and international level and we hope the sending-off won't be as bad as it looks," he said. "I know Wayne is a strong character and whatever comes of it, and he is heartbroken. There will be people around him who will have been through it all before." Rooney had been a marked man since returning from injury in the group stages to boost what had been England's flagging campaign, and had been targeted in the three matches he had played. While Rooney's temperament was again called into question, midfielder Steven Gerrard said he should not be made the scapegoat for England's failure to make the semi-finals. "Wayne had been fantastic. He has done so much for the team," said the Liverpool captain. "I haven't seen the incident, but I'll give him a big hug because I love him. He'll not get blame from us. There were three (Portuguese) men around him before the sending-off." His dismissal came just as England were taking control of the match as they attempted to reach their first World Cup semi-final since 1990, and barely 10 minutes after a tearful Beckham went off injured.
