Wayne Rooney

Wayne Rooney

File:EPL 3 January Wayne Rooney.jpg © http://soccer-europe.com
Personal information
Full name	Wayne Mark Rooney
Height	5'10 (178 cm)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Manchester United
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 April 2006

Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985 in Liverpool) is an English footballer, widely considered to be one of the leading young talents in world football - in September 2005 he was selected by his fellow professionals as the inaugural FIFPro World Young Player of the Year. He currently plays for Manchester United and the England national football team as a second striker, although the 2005-06 season has seen Rooney playing both centrally and on the left and right flanks. He wears the number 8 shirt for his club, vacated by Nicky Butt, and is generally given the number 9 for his country. He is well known for his potent shot and the way he intelligently operates behind the frontman as a withdrawn striker.

Rooney was brought up in a rough urban area of eastern Liverpool called Croxteth, where he and his two brothers attended the local Christian Brothers De La Salle School.

Although he has been under an intense media spotlight since first arriving on the scene in 2002, it was not until his performances at the Template:Ec2 that he gained a reputation on the world stage, as he spearheaded the English attack, scoring 4 goals. England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson compared his impact to that made by the legendary Brazilian, Pelé at a similar age during the 1958 World Cup. When the current Portugal Head Coach Phil Scolari was asked to compare Pelé to Rooney he replied (diplomatically?) 'One is black and one is white'. This has led to him being called El Blanco Pele by some United fans.

Career

Premiership breakthrough

Rooney gained national prominence in October 2002 when he became the youngest goal scorer in the history of the Premiership at 16 years and 360 days while playing for Everton F.C. (though this record has since been surpassed twice). His spectacular goal against then-champions Arsenal was a last-minute winner. At the end of 2002 he won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Young Personality award.

England career

He has also figured prominently in recent England international matches, after having become the youngest ever player to play for England, in a friendly against Australia, on February 12, 2003, aged 17 years, 111 days. England's youngest ever player previous to this was James F. M. Prinsep of Clapham Rovers, who made his debut almost one and a quarter centuries before, on April 5, 1879, aged 17 years, 253 days.

Rooney is also the youngest England scorer ever (17 years, 317 days). In 2004, Rooney became the youngest player ever to score in the European Football Championships on 17 June 2004 when he scored twice against Switzerland; however the Swiss player, Johan Vonlanthen, broke this record against France four days later. However, Rooney was injured in the quarter finals against Portugal - England were subsequently knocked out. As of 2 March 2006, he has played for England 29 times and has scored 11 international goals.

World Cup 2006 doubts

There is concern for Rooney's fitness ahead of the upcoming World Cup after the fourth metatarsal on his right foot was broken, possibly in several places during Manchester United's 3-0 defeat away at Chelsea on April 29, 2006, putting him out of action for six weeks. A bone scan on 25 May 2006 revealed that he is not expected to return in time for the World Cup groups ties, with a decision to be made on his return to training after these games have passed. Shortly afterwards his international manager confirmed he would travel with the squad to Germany, and will return to have another bone scan on 14 June.

The current received opinion is that Rooney will not be able to play for England in the 2006 World Cup until England's first knock-out match, should they finish in the top two of the group.

Transfers

Before turning 17 and becoming eligible for a professional contract, he was playing for £80 a week and living with his family on a council estate. That has since been raised several times and Rooney now earns an estimated £50,000 (€73,500 / $90,000) a week. Following intense media coverage of Rooney at the 2004 European Championships, Everton claimed that they would not transfer his contract for less than £50 million. The club offered Rooney a new contract for £27,000 a week. This, however, was turned down by Rooney's agent on the 27 August 2004, leaving Manchester United and Newcastle United to compete for his signature.

The Times newspaper reported rumours that Newcastle's initial bid was made at the request of Rooney's agent, who eventually made £1.5 million from the deal and employs the son of the Newcastle United chairman. This bid was intended to force Manchester United to try to buy the player a year earlier than they had planned. In any event, the Newcastle United bid succeeded in forcing Manchester United to enter the bidding. Rooney handed in a transfer request to Everton and on 31 August 2004 Rooney signed for Manchester United after a deal worth up to £27 million was agreed. The deal took place rapidly, and was concluded just hours before the transfer deadline.