Rooney says Bale not England’s worry; Uefa open disciplinary proceedings against Russia

Wayne Rooney says England will not focus on Gareth Bale’s threat when they look to bounce back in Euro 2016 against Wales on Thursday, while Russia face serious sanctions after fans appeared to attack England supporters after Saturday's 1-1 draw in Group B.

Supporters clash in the stands after the Euro 2016 Group B match between England and Russia at Stade Velodrome in Marseille, France, 11 June 2016. Daniel Dal Zennaro / EPA

MARSEILLE // Wayne Rooney says England will not focus on Gareth Bale’s threat when they look to bounce back in Euro 2016 against Wales on Thursday.

England were stunned by a late equaliser by Russia in Marseille in their opening Group B match. England centre-back Gary Cahill called the 1-1 result "a kick in the teeth".

A young England side looked to be heading for victory at the Stade Velodrome when Tottenham Hotspur’s Eric Dier beat Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev with a superb 20-yard free kick.

But three minutes from the final whistle, Russia captain Igor Berezutski stunned the stadium when he rose above the England defence to send a looping header over goalkeeper Joe Hart.

Two years after their first-round exit from the 2014 World Cup, England will now have to bounce back against a Welsh side that beat Slovakia 2-1 earlier in the day.

Real Madrid star Bale also scored a stunning strike in the win. Fresh from helping the Spanish giants to Champions League victory, he is expected to be the danger man when the sides meet in Lens.

Manchester United veteran Rooney labelled Bale as “one of the top five players” in the world, said England will not concentrate on the Welsh winger.

“We have to stop other players, you can’t just focus on Gareth Bale. We’re not going to double team him,” Rooney said.

“We have to just think about the next game, and playing the same way we did tonight, on Thursday.”

See also:

• Richard Jolly: Wales hail Robson-Kanu, the non-scoring striker who wrestled Bale and Ramsey out of the spotlight

• The Euro 2016 daily five: Elation for Wales, deflation for England

• Gallery: Spurs' Eric Dier sends England in front before very Spurs-like ending for England

• Video: Before it went awry: Euro 2016 fans descend on Marseille

Meanwhile, Uefa on Sunday opened disciplinary proceedings against Russia after crowd disturbances in the stadium at the end of the Euro 2016 match against England.

Europe’s football governing body said Russia was charged with crowd disturbances, racist behaviour and letting off fireworks.

It said sanctions will be decided on Tuesday once the Russia Football Union has made its case.

Uefa said there were “segregation issues” at Stade Velodrome and said it would take action to strengthen the deployment of security personnel at stadiums.

As the players left the pitch at the end of the 1-1 draw, Russian fans were seen charging into a section occupied by English supporters and fists were thrown.

The violence though was restrained compared to the scenes before the match when hundreds of English and Russian fans fought pitched battles in the Vieux-Port area of Marseille.

An Englishman was left fighting for his life and more than 30 people were injured.

“Uefa expresses its utter disgust for the violent clashes that occurred in the city centre of Marseille, and its serious concern for the incidents at the end of the match inside Stade Velodrome,” it said in a statement.

“This kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable and has no place in football.

“Uefa acknowledges that there were segregation issues at Stade Velodrome and will implement corrective measures to strengthen the deployment of security personnel at stadiums, in close collaboration with local authorities.”

Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko on Sunday criticised the behaviour of his country’s fans following the disturbances and conceded Uefa was likely to impose a fine, but he also laid the blame on the match organisers for failing to separate supporters.

Fifa also chimed in on Sunday and strongly condemned the “shameful scenes” between “idiotic troublemakers” at the European Championship.

“Fifa strongly condemns any form of violence and finds it wholly unacceptable to see such shameful scenes around football matches perpetrated by a minority of idiotic troublemakers,” said a Fifa spokeswoman in a statement.

The world body said the fighting fans “have nothing to do with football and its true fans.”

Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE

Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport