Nemanja Vidic has hailed Wayne Rooney as the best striker in the world - but the Manchester United defender longs for the chance to try and stop him.
Vidic and Rooney will be united in a common cause from now until May 22, when they hope to be helping Manchester United to Champions League glory in Madrid. After that though, national pride takes precedence in South Africa, where both England and Serbia will compete for the World Cup.
It has not escaped Vidic's notice that his own side could meet Rooney's in the first knockout round, and he said: "After sharing the same dressing room, it would be fun to play against Wayne."
He added: "One of us would have to lose and he is a great player, who would be hard to keep quiet.
"But that is the challenge. You want it. That is why you play football."
Vidic is enough of a patriot to bring up the topic of a World Cup meeting inside the United dressing room.
Rooney's jocular response did not come as a surprise.
"We have a hard group. We play against Germany, Ghana and Australia. That is tough," said Vidic.
"But I just mentioned to him if we got through we have a chance to meet England. I said it would be an interesting game. He said "Serbia? Who plays for them?".
"He was joking. He knows we are doing well and he knows we are not an easy team, even though England are a big one. We have a lot of good players right across Europe."
