I would like someone to take a look at the two photos below and explain to me exactly what the difference is between them.

Take a minute to think about it. I’ll still be here.

The man on the left, of course, is Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who got himself into some trouble on Saturday after scoring on his previous employers at Arsenal, then running all the way across the pitch to taunt the traveling Gooner fans. This sparked a near-riot that got a Man City steward injured and resulted in no small amount of condemnation in the press and among call-in show voices.

But here’s what I want to know — didn’t Wayne Rooney, the man on the right, do something awfully similar to this in Goodison Park not too long ago?

I seem to recall that Rooney, who moved to Manchester United from Everton in 2004, scored a goal against Everton a couple years ago, then turned to the stands, kissed the Manchester United badge on his jersey and shouted at Everton supporters like he had just stabbed them all through the heart simultaneously. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t recall Everton supporters reacting like this:

(Animated GIF spotted on Gunner Blog.)

Now I’m sure there are people who will argue that those Gooners were also reacting to Adebayor kicking out at Robin Van Persie’s face earlier in the match.

I don’t intend to defend that action here, because really, it’s not defensible. You can see in that animated GIF — also from Gunner Blog, by the way — that Adebayor acted deliberately and earned the multi-match ban he’ll surely get for violent conduct. You don’t kick at someone’s head and get away with it these days. Just ask Albert Haynesworth.

Perhaps this is what separates Adebayor from Rooney. Clearly, Wayne Rooney would never kick out at a vulnerable opp– oh, wait…

So these are two immensely talented strikers who have volatile tempers and are prone to ugly acts on the pitch. So why does it seem like Emmanuel Adebayor is getting a lot more stick here than Wayne Rooney has ever gotten for his thuggish behavior? What exactly is it that separates the two of them?

The answer is not what you think I might say here, but it’s not that far off: Wayne Rooney wears an England kit.

To all football fans in England, even those who hate Man United with a passion, Rooney is still “one of our boys,” so he’ll escape the universal condemnation in the press that players from other countries might get, because everyone believes Rooney is a crucial cog in England’s World Cup wheel. Adebayor? He’s not English, so screw ‘im.

That’s a slightly different xenophobia than some might think is at play here. Ultimately, though, it does beg the question — if we were talking about, say, Emmanuel Shevchenko from Donetsk pulling a stunt like this, would those Arsenal fans have reacted with the same vitriol?

The fact that I’m not 100% sure of the answer does not speak so well of you, England.