Rein in your temper, Pele advises Rooney

Berlin, July 9 (UNI) Anger is just one letter short of danger and Pele, arguably the best soccer player ever, has advised volatile England forward Wayne Rooney to curb his temper and show more maturity and patience while dealing on-field incidents.

Rooney was shown the red card after stamping on Portugal custodian Ricardo Carvalho and a 10-man England lost the quarterfinal match on penalties and Pele felt the striker should show more patience in dealing with this kind of situation.

''I'd like to give Wayne a little bit of advice - every big player will be marked closely. It will be the same with Wayne as it was with me, with Bobby Charlton, with Maradona - every opposing manager will tell his players to get tight, mark close, be aggressive.

''He must learn to expect it and to deal with it calmly. He must get the experience to say 'ok, I understand this, I know what to do,'' the 65-year-old Brazilian legend told BBC Sports.

''My advice is be calm and then you can beat the player on the football pitch, not by losing your temper,'' he added.

Pele was also satisfied with the quality of soccer in this World Cup and predicted a classic France-Italy final later today.

''I have not been disappointed, we have had a lot of good games, exciting games. But the highlight should always be the final and I think it'll live up to it...Everyone wants to see a great final.

That can be the mark of a quality tournament. And I think we can expect a super game,'' he said.

''Of course, the second round in particular had games that weren't the best. But generally the games have been of a very good quality and I have enjoyed it,'' said the former forward who helped Brazil to World Cup glory in 1958, 1962 and 1970.

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