World Cup: Chance for Rooney redemption

As I've said,I would always have needed the game time. I am ready to play. I am sure the manager will have a tough decision but I am ready.

- Wayne Rooney

WAYNE ROONEY

(MANCHESTER UNITED)

Age: 28 Caps: 90 Goals: 38

England's talisman and all-time top scorer in World Cup qualifying, but has yet to find the net in the World Cup Finals despite playing in two editions.

This time, though, it's different.

With the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Rickie Lambert and Raheem Sterling in form, Rooney no longer has to shoulder the goal-scoring burden alone, but can he seize the opportunity?

They called him the White Pele.

They thought he was England's Messiah.

But 11 years into his international career, he is best remembered as England's big-tournament flop.

He was never fully fit at the 2006 World Cup, couldn't shake off the lethargy in the 2010 edition, and dug himself a massive hole in Euro 2012 by getting himself suspended for the first two group matches.

To say that patience is wearing thin on the man, whose off-the-field shenanigans over the years haven't exactly won him many fans, is an understatement.

Yet, Rooney was brilliant for England once.

As a wide-eyed teenager, he took Europe by storm at Euro 2004.

He played four matches in Portugal and scored four goals.

NO FEAR

Most memorably, he played without fear.

Defenders dreaded his mazy runs, goalkeepers braced themselves for the worst. Rooney ran at his opponents with the confidence and composure of men twice his age, but did so with an energy level that was almost impossible to keep up with.

Remarkably, in a team comprising the likes of David Beckham, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Paul Scholes and Frank Lampard, it became clear very early into the campaign that England's hopes rested on the 18-year-old Evertonian.

It may sound surprising now, but Rooney, eight months younger than Cristiano Ronaldo, was the huge sensation, destined for bigger things.

England's hopes at that tournament, some argued, ended 27 minutes into that quarter-final clash with Portugal.

Rooney left the field with a broken foot, England exited the competition with shattered dreams.

Getting the talented forward to reproduce, in subsequent tournaments, the form of Euro 2004 has proven too tough a task for even the most accomplished of managers.

Neither Sven-Goran Eriksson nor Fabio Capello succeeded.

Roy Hodgson now gets another shot at it.

It is misguided to suggest Rooney suffered in the company of England's underachieving golden generation.

Rooney blossomed earlier than most others, and thus was considered a member of the cohort even though he is younger than all of them.

If Beckham and Co didn't live up to their potential on the international stage, Rooney also cannot be absolved of blame for England's failures.

But it may be due to his early stardom, some believe, that his peak arrived sooner than the average footballer.

His former Manchester United team-mate, Paul Scholes, now retired, recently suggested that Rooney, 28, may have already slipped into decline as a result of reaching the top too soon.

Gerrard, England's skipper, and Hodgson swiftly refuted such claims.

At the same time, Rooney believes he is in his best shape in many years.

But there is one major difference.

Few, if any, are expecting Rooney to be England's saviour this time around.

Because he goes into this World Cup on the back of Manchester United's most miserable season in years, the pressure on the United forward has lifted somewhat.

SHARE THE LOAD

Hodgson has reason to believe that he has enough attacking players in his squad to share the goal-scoring responsibility.

Daniel Sturridge, in particular, had just come off a fine season with Liverpool.

A Sturridge-Rooney strike partnership looks the most promising England have had since Rooney and Owen terrorised rivals in Portugal.

In Brazil, Rooney will also be aided by the dynamism of an emerging group of English youths.

Luke Shaw, 18, Raheem Sterling, 19, and Ross Barkley, 20, will remind him of the time when he had the world at his feet.

But Hodgson can only coax so much out of a player. No one but Rooney himself can unlock the potential that he has so far only threatened to fulfil.

This article was first published on June 7, 2014.
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