Wayne Rooney was one of the crucial thrilling abilities in world soccer when he appeared for England in Euro 2004, going onto make 120 appearances for the Three Lions and scoring 53 objectives.
His efficiency in opposition to France in that match is ranked at no.34 in FourFourTwo ‘s listing of the best particular person performances of all time , and crammed England followers with hope for the approaching years.
Nevertheless all of it might have been so totally different for Wayne Rooney , who has revealed that he was eligible to prove for the Republic of Eire.
Wayne Rooney pledged allegiance to England after being snubbed a spot in Eire’s first staff
Wayne Rooney on his 103 look for England (Picture credit score: Alamy)
Rooney was eligible to play for Eire , and at simply 16-years-old his worldwide allegiance was questioned.
A call-up for the under-21’s staff got here however was turned down by {the teenager} and he went on to play for England simply months later.
Wayne Rooney celebrates after changing into England’s youngest ever goalscorer after netting in opposition to Macedonia in September 2003. (Picture credit score: Getty Pictures)
Talking on the Follow Soccer podcast, delivered to you by Sky Guess , Rooney mentioned: “I spoke to Lee Carsley, and he spoke to Mick [McCarthy] and I used to be near doing it after which, they known as me up for Eire U21s.
“I used to be like, ‘I’m not enjoying for Eire U21s’. It clearly by no means occurred, and I went to play for England. I’d have in all probability went [and played for Ireland if they put me in the first team].”
Wayne Rooney is distributed off for England in opposition to Portugal within the 2006 World Cup. (Picture credit score: Getty Pictures)
Rooney, who’s ranked at no.50 in FourFourTwo’s listing of the best gamers of all time , is England’s second highest scorer of all-time with 53 objectives in 120 video games. He represented his nation at six main tournaments however by no means made it previous the quarter-finals.
One in all most memorable match for England might be for the unsuitable causes, after he noticed pink in opposition to Portugal on the 2006 World Cup following an altercation with Ricardo Carvalho after which teammate Cristiano Ronaldo .
Following his dismissal, Ronaldo winked on the Portugal bench which Rooney responded to in a press release saying: “I bear no in poor health feeling to Cristiano however I am disillusioned that he selected to get entangled. I suppose I do, although, must keep in mind that on that exact event we weren’t teammates.”
