- Name: Wayne Rooney
- Nationality: English
- Date and Place of Birth: October 24, 1985 in Liverpool, England
- Position: Striker
- Current Club: Manchester United (Premier League).
- Previous Clubs: Everton (2002-2004)
- International Career: 2003 to present
Once the baby of the England team, now the 24yr old Rooney is its backbone. Rooney was taken in by Everton on school boy terms when he was just 10. In October 2002, he scored a match winning goal against the reigning champion Arsenal to become the youngest player (16 yrs 360 days) till then to score a premier league goal.
In 2004 he left Everton to join Manchester United, a move which generated much heat and controversies. But Everton was richer by 25.6 million pounds, which United paid for Rooney.
Rooney made his United debut in a Champions League group game against Fenerbahce, bagging a hat-trick. Even though Manchester United could manage only a third place in the Premier League, Rooney was the top scorer with 7 goals. He was honoured with the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
In the 2005-06 season, Rooney’s goals went up to 16 and the United improved its position to second place. In 2006-07, he scored 23 in all competitions and 14 league goals including a hat-trick against Bolton Wanderers. It was also Rooney’s first league title winning year. United repeated the performance in 2007-08 and 2008-09, with Rooney scoring 12 goals in each season.
Rooney continues to be in great form in the current season too and on 31 January 2010, he scored his 100th premier league goal in a 3-1 win over Arsenal. Incidentally, his first goal too was against Arsenal. Rooney has already scored 20 goals this season.
Wayne Rooney made his international debut for England in a friendly against Australia in February 2003 when he was only 17. His first tournament action was in Euro 2004, when he twice moved the net of Switzerland. But Rooney was injured in the quarter final match against Portugal and England crashed out of the tournament. Rooney is injury prone and has had to miss several vital games in his career.
Rooney married Coleen his girl friend for six years, in 2008. in 2006, he was awarded 100,000 pounds in libel damages from The Sun and News of the World. Both of the tabloids had claimed that Rooney had assaulted Coleen in a night club. He donated the money to charity. In November 2009, a son was born to the couple, Kai Wayne Rooney.
It is often observed that England’s fortunes are closely interlinked to the ups and downs of Rooney, the ace footballer. |
