ROONEY ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL
BIDDING ADIEU Rooney ends his international career as England’s leading goalscorer but will be disappointed by lack of success at big events
MANCHESTER: Wayne Rooney made the announcement of his retirement from the national team within hours of another England great Gary Line ker saying that he felt the country’ s leading goalscorer was“under appreciated .”
As a 17-year-old prodigy, Rooney was the last of a particularly talented generation of players, who included Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, David Beckham and Paul Scholes.
Together they were expected to win England back respect, if not honours, as the country that always considered itself a major footballing power struggled to emulate its solitary tournament success at the 1966 World Cup.
When Rooney burst on to the tournament scene by scoring four goals at the 2004 European Championships, his impact was even compared to that of Pele.
But while Rooney achieved every honour in the club game, eclipsing Bobby Charlton as Manchester United’s leading scorer, his career with England was always more problematic, even though he ended as their most prolific goalscorer and most capped outfield player.
With the goals came injuries - like the broken metatarsal that blighted his 2006 World Cup campaign- and occasional flashes of temper as England’s talisman struggled to drag an inferior side up to his superior standards.
“[England] went through a time of being bereft of world-class talent-it was just him ,” said Line ker .“He’ s gone to play in tournaments, sometimes not fully fit, sometimes fit, in a team that’ s not really good enough, and he’s suffered a little bit from that.
ELITE GROUP
When asked whether Rooney was under-appreciated, Line ker said: “He probably is. He’d be [one of Britain’s] top 10 ever.” Like most of the others in that elite group, Rooney experienced the frustration of tournament football when England underwhelmed rather than overcame. Some believe, like England, he was found out by the game’s top level when his record at tournaments was poor after 2004: he scored just once in 11 games at three World Cups.