Phil Neville heaped praise on his fellow former Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney after an accusation of racism overshadowed an MLS game between their two sides.
Neville's Inter Miami sealed a 3-2 win over Rooney's DC United but the big talking point was the incident involving players from both sides. It is alleged that DC player Taxi Fountas directed a racial slur towards Inter defender Damion Lowe. Fountas was substituted by Rooney almost immediately.
That decision led to Neville praising Rooney's quick-thinking. "I must commend the referee for a really, really difficult situation. He followed the protocols set out by the MLS," Neville said.
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"And I must give massive, massive respect to Wayne Rooney for dealing with it in the way that he did. I've always known him as a class act and today he went up more in my estimations more than he's ever done, more than any goal he's ever scored.
"The players were hurt, disappointed and I called them over because in my previous job we've had experience of racism in certain countries. I'm quite briefed on how to handle these situations. I told the players we'll deal with this, that it was unacceptable and that there's no place for racism in society or on a football field. I don't think I've ever been as proud of my players as I was tonight."
Rooney remained tight-lipped, simply saying: "There was a complaint, which I'm sure will get investigated. (There's) Not much more I can say."
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