The highs and lows of Wayne Rooney's England international career
We take a look at the key moments that have shaped the England captain’s international career
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Your support makes all the difference.Wayne Rooney’s England career looks to be in jeopardy after he was dropped from the squad to face Scotland and France in the upcoming international double-header.
The 31-year-old was omitted from Gareth Southgate’s 25-man party for the World Cup qualifier at Wembley and the friendly fixture in Paris.
With his future at club side Manchester United also in serious doubt, the player's career appears to have reached a crossroads.
Here, we take a look at the key moments to have shaped the England captain’s international career:
2003: Record-breaking debut
Aged just 17 years and 111 days at the time, Rooney made history by becoming England’s youngest ever player when he made his Three Lions debut against Australia at West Ham’s Upton Park on 12th February 2003.
2004: Euro finals
The teenage Rooney burst onto the international scene at the Euro 2004 championships in Portugal. The 18-year-old scored four goals at the tournament before infamously limping off with a metatarsal injury in the early stages of the quarter-final against the hosts. Sven Goran Eriksson’s side went on to lose the match on penalties, but a new England star had been born.
2006: Seeing red
Another metatarsal injury meant Rooney faced a race against the clock to be ready in time for the 2006 World Cup. Although he returned to action for England’s second game of the tournament in Germany, it was clear he lacked full fitness and he failed to find the net. During another quarter-final against Portugal, the forward was given a straight red card for a stamp on defender Ricardo Carvalho in the 62nd minute in Gelsenkirchen. The Three Lions, once again, lost on penalties after hanging on with 10 men in normal and extra time.
2009: First taste of the armband
With regular England captain John Terry and his deputy Rio Ferdinand both unavailable, Fabio Capello confirmed Rooney would stand in as skipper for England’s friendly with Brazil in Qatar in November 2009. At the age of 24, it was the first time the former Everton man had worn the armband for his country. The Three Lions lost the match 1-0.
2010: Television outburst
Rooney was named in Capello’s squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa but failed to score once more as England underperformed badly. One particularly poor team display against Algeria was greeted with boos following the final whistle, with Rooney voicing his frustration at the poor reception his side were given. "Nice to see your own fans booing you,” he remarked into a camera on the pitch. “If that's what loyal support is... for fuck's sake." A narrow win over Slovenia in the next game meant England scraped through to the knockout stages, but they were sent home after a 4-1 last-16 hammering to Germany.
2013: Scores against Brazil at the Maracana
Rooney scored perhaps his finest goal in an England shirt in a prestigious friendly at one of the world football’s most iconic venues. Having made the trip to Rio de Janeiro to face Brazil as part of preparations for the following year’s World Cup in the same country, Roy Hodgson’s side overturned a one goal deficit to lead 2-1, with Rooney scoring an exquisite curling effort. The match ended a 2-2 draw.
June 2014: First World Cup goal
After two World Cups of disappointment for Rooney, he finally got off the mark in football’s most prestigious competition by scoring an equaliser against Uruguay in Sao Paulo. However, a late winner by Luis Suarez sealed a 2-1 defeat for the Three Lions, and with it a group stage elimination from the tournament.
August 2014: Appointed full-time captain
Following Steven Gerrard’s decision to retire from international football after the World Cup, Hodgson handed the captaincy to Rooney on a permanent basis. Now a senior member of the side, Rooney began skippering the Three Lions as their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign got underway.
November 2014: Youngest England player to reach 100 caps
Rooney became only the eighth player in England history to reach 100 caps in November 2014, reaching the milestone in the Euro 2016 qualifier at home to Slovenia. At 29, the skipper was the youngest player to be awarded a prestigious golden cap.
2015: Greatest ever England goalscorer
Rooney’s late penalty against Switzerland at Wembley meant that, on his 107th appearance, he overtook Sir Bobby Charlton’s record as his country’s all-time leading goalscorer. The strike was also Rooney’s 50th for England.
2016: Euro shame
England won all 10 of their qualifiers for Euro 2016, but the tournament in France would go on to be remembered as a low point in English national team history. Now playing in a deep lying midfield role, Rooney started as captain in three of the Three Lions’ four matches at the tournament. Despite scoring a penalty early on in the last 16 clash with Iceland, the minnows came back to win 2-1 in one of the most humiliating England defeats in memory.
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