Montenegro defender urges Uefa to show leniency to Wayne Rooney

The Montenegro player kicked by Wayne Rooney has appealed to Uefa to show the England striker leniency over his red card because he acted out of "desperation rather than anger". Rooney was given a three-match ban after being sent off for kicking Miodrag Dzudovic in a Euro 2012 qualifier in Podgorica. This rules him out of England's group matches at next year's tournament and the FA is considering whether to appeal. Dzudovic said in a letter to the Uefa president, Michel Platini, that "in our opinion Wayne Rooney shouldn't be banned even for a single game". The Manchester United forward was "provoked by problems his family had to face a short time before the game", Dzudovic said in the letter, written with the support of the Russian newspaper Soviet Sport. Also in Rooney's favour was his apology after the foul. "He realised his fault and felt guilty … Wayne's behaviour is the brightest example of fairness. It is a rare case when a player leaves the field blaming no one but himself."