Manchester United ace Wayne Rooney has explained the motivation behind his ball-juggling taunts of Croatia fans during England's win last week.

Rooney explained: "We were all looking forward to the game against Croatia after their celebrations at Wembley when they knocked us out.

"We wanted revenge. We remembered that day and their celebrations and the performance in Zagreb has softened the blow."

And so have those few seconds when Rooney - in front of the fanatical home support - taunted the dispirited Croats with a spot of ball-juggling.

He admitted: "I don't like to disrespect teams but their celebrations were still in my mind when I did that."