Polarising Rooney continues to divide opinion
Marc Fox
One wonders whether Wayne Rooney looks back at those glorious, unexpected moments in his early career with some regret.
Maybe he reflects that the manner in which he launched himself on the domestic and then international stage – think the then 16-year-old's goal against Arsenal, his Champions League hat-trick against Fenerbahce in his first European appearance for Manchester United and his splash at Euro 2004 – has ultimately been the classic double-edged sword.
Have Rooney's outstanding contributions as a teenager continued to cloud our perception of his subsequent achievements?
Indeed, it might be that moments such as his post-match interview as England captain after skippering the national team to a worthy albeit stuttering 1-0 win over Estonia make him struggle to make sense of it all.
Let's state in advance that nobody who watched Rooney toil against the Estonians in Group E, who were reduced to 10 men in the second-half, England manager Roy Hodgson included, would conclude that the Manchester United striker was displaying his peak form.
But, surely, the bandwagon chock full of Rooney detractors has runaway with itself a little when he is forced to answer questions about the possibility of being substituted rather than revel in yet another international goal (his 43rd), delivered expertly from a right-footed free-kick at just the point when England were desperate for a drop of inspiration.
When Rooney captains England against Slovenia next month, he'll win his 100th cap having only just turned 29, with his sights firmly set on passing the national team's third highest goalscorer Jimmy Greaves on 44 goals, not to mention Bobby Charlton's record tally of 49.
There is a feeling that only in England could there still be the lingering question of whether the (potentially) top goalscorer of all time is any good.
In that post-match interview, Rooney was forced to answer a question on the possibility of being about to be substituted as he lined up to take that ultimately decisive free-kick, a point that Hodgson later rubbished in any case.
The interview questions hardly mentioned the crucial fact that Rooney's free-kick had rescued England from an underwhelming goalless draw against their inferior and depleted opponents.
No dwelling on the fact that England have now won all their matches since Rooney became captain after the World Cup.
No talk of Rooney's now almost taken-for-granted work ethic.
Should Rooney – after all his exploits for club and country – really have to field questions where he is forced to defend his ability to find a goal on frustrating international nights such as last night?
It is not to gloss over the fact that Rooney could, and perhaps, should have made the game more comfortable for England to say that he – again – was the country's saving grace.
The ongoing debate about whether Rooney is 'world class' is becoming as painful as it is unhelpful.
Nobody gives more for England, a point worth underlining on a night when one national team colleague asked to be left out of the starting line-up because of fatigue.
Indeed, few have ever given more to the cause when you add his extraordinary effort to his remarkable statistics of scoring a goal in virtually every other game for England.
For those that saw the 16-year-old Rooney curl such a marvellous finish past Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman in 2002 he may never have completely lived up to his potential.
But those that live in the here and now must ask themselves what Hodgson would do without him.
© Marc Fox & Soccerphile.com
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