Wayne Rooney insists he's not sought to feud with former Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo during the World Cup.

During the Qatar tournament, Leo Messi has performed admirably and Rooney took to Twitter to praise the Paris Saint-Germain forward. Quoting his own tweet from 2012, which claimed Messi was the best ever, the D.C. United boss said: "Nothing has changed."

Some deemed this as being a dig at Ronaldo for his comments, but in his Times column, Rooney refuted those suggestions. He wrote: "Some took that [tweet] as a put-down to Cristiano Ronaldo but nothing could be further from the truth.

"I have the greatest respect for Cristiano and when people argue he is the greatest, I know where they are coming from and respect that opinion. But, for me, Messi is just different.

"I played against him several times and it's his ability to take and hold the ball, to control games, run at players, pass and score and be the difference. Close up, you just can't get near him.

"He is always in control. If he has the ball at his feet, he determines everything, your decision-making included. Being his opponent is a difficult place to be."