Wayne Rooney carries the World (Cup) on his shoulders

Now it's fun having Wayne Rooney around

Even King Fergie would agree football is the winner

In defeat at Burnley, Ferguson saw why he's besotted with the game.

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By ANDY DUNN, 12/09/2009

A WORKING CLASS hero is something to be - John Lennon

ROPED off deep in the bowels of Wembley Stadium is a place known as the Mixed Zone.

It is an area where journalists can 'mix' with players post-match.

For years, it might as well have been a War Zone as far as Wayne Rooney was concerned.

A place to be avoided at best, a minefield to be tiptoed through at worst.

Sheepish

On Wednesday night, he held court. Confidently, politely, eloquently even. He spoke about stock-piling sleep ahead of the imminent arrival of his first child.

He was almost embarrassed to acknowledge his 25th goal for England. Fortunate, lucky, was his sheepish description.

He was frank in expressing doubts about being able to play week in, week out during a long, hard season and still be in peak condition when landing on South African soil.

He reflected on the disappointment of his final act of World Cup 2006. Since then though, he insisted, he has 'matured a lot'.

Outbursts

Those who saw him chin a corner-flag at Craven Cottage earlier this year or even those who watched him aim a kick at Abou Diaby only a fortnight ago will rightly raise an eyebrow. Along with those who still witness his frequent and inexcusable outburts of dissent towards referees.

And such is his instinctive aggression, you are always a hostage to fortune when suggesting his temperament has cooled.

But Rooney the international player is different from Rooney the club player.

Football and England are his passions, Manchester United is his job.

Fun

Have you ever seen anyone have as much fun on a football field as Rooney did on Wednesday night? Foot off the gas once emphatic victory was assured, with an eye to yesterday's demanding Premier League fixture?

You're kidding. He would have carried on playing until Thursday.

Under Fabio Capello - who is proving to be every bit as influential on his career as Sir Alex Ferguson - Rooney sets the England standard.

The standard of commitment, the standard of unselfishness, the standard of excellence. By deed, he is a captain.

His example compels others to perform, to at least give their all.

Talent

In terms of sheer talent, Rooney will have the world at his feet and England's world on his shoulders next summer.

Even if they do scramble to South Africa, the time is right for him to barge his way beyond Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ferguson sold a World Player of the Year to make way for one he already had in waiting.

Sir Alex knows all about the maturing process of lads raised on mean streets. And he knows Rooney - married and an imminent father-to-be - is ready to assume responsibility.

Scrape

When Rooney got into the odd, off-the-field scrape early in his career, people nodded knowingly towards his roots in the harsh environment of Croxteth.

Yet it is those roots that have made him invaluable to England - as a player and as a shaper of squad spirit. Be hard but humble, stand up for your mates, rail against posers, prima donnas and shirkers.

There will doubtless be trouble ahead in the maelstrom of a domestic and European season but the England penny seems to have dropped.

Sweat

A nation's hopes and expectations have suddenly become unprecedented ... with an inordinate amount pinned to one man's jersey.

But one thing is for sure. Rooney will shed every last drop of sweat in trying to realise them.

Not for the awards or the unimaginable riches that will follow, but because a working-class hero is something to be.

Your comments

This article has 12 comments

Rooney is a major accident waiting to happen.
Hes learned little in recent years and his temprament could yet cost us a key match in the WC.

By H.O.B.. Posted September 19 2009 at 11:55 PM.

ANDY DUNN

Rooney loves United as much if not more so then playing for England.

He commited his career to the club the day he signed. You don't do that if it's just a job...get your facts right.

By James.. Posted September 15 2009 at 11:02 PM.

Andy,you really connot be serious when you contend that Rooney is, or has the potential to be a better player than Messi and Ronaldo! Hate to say it but it aint gonna happen. Hard work, determination, passion, stamina all typical English traits just dont, and never will measure up when up against teams that rely on skill and technic; Spain, Brazil etc.I love the little wassa but with his back to the goal he´s ordinary and that is a long way from world class. Less flannel please, lets not get carried away and fall into the familiar trap of hybris.

By ROBERT CHILD.. Posted September 13 2009 at 3:17 PM.

Academies Dunny.....

the result of the F.A.'s own "Blueprint for football", which gave us both the academies and Premier League....

How ironic that the loser in all this "progress" has been the national team, which now has players taught to dive and a pool of talent for the national team that is not even ankle deep and still features a majority of players with one foot that is only good for standing on..... (iven their proclivity for diving, perhaps we should call it their launch leg?) And has singularly failed in nearly 20 years to provide a single international class goalkeeper.

And all this was done in the "blueprint" to improve the prospects for the national team.... by grabbing control of the elite from Lytham.

There used to be a sport, in which honesty and self respect were important elements. Now there only exists the Premiership..... woo-bleeding-hoo

By Damien.. Posted September 6 2009 at 10:49 AM.

I am still of the opinion that the drivers for these behavioural practices are:

1. A lack of harmonisation in employment law concerning U18s - measure number one to be implemented, preferably by the EU, but in the interim by UEFA and FIFA.
2. A lack of an analogy to the 'patent' concept where training footballers is concerned. If I discover some technology through hard work and patent it, then anyone in the world has to pay me to use it. The point of the system was to protect and to encourage invention and innovation rather than shameless copying and stealing. It should be the same for clubs spending a decade developing a footballer. This is the domain of FIFA, since any system must be global to work.
3. Poorer regulatory environments allowing agents and Club officials to profit from foreign 'signings' in ways which have been outlawed in the domestic market place. A centralised 'transfer system' and absolute accounting transparency are required to stop abuses there.....

In the never ending world of 'who blinks first', regulation must come from the top and from outside.

By Rhys Jaggar.. Posted September 6 2009 at 10:32 AM.

The Fa are to blame for the big English clubs going abroad because of the silly rule stopping English clubs from looking for players outside their own city. The Fa thinks that small local clubs will find these players which has not happened in my town because they don’t have a youth system in place. The best English players are now being lost to other trades. The old System saw many good English players coming through at all the top clubs. Now there is only the odd good English player and the rest are average because they have leant their trade at a small club. Top players need top coaches and top set ups to bring out the best in them.

By Carl warmington.. Posted September 6 2009 at 9:46 AM.

This is a very serious issue. The players we hear about that are trafficked are the lucky ones, as they have made it as professional stars. Wenger has an academy in Thailand where he send boys from Africa as young as 8 years old! Others that come from Africa that don't make it spend a life on the streets (prevalent in France).

By David .. Posted September 6 2009 at 9:57 AM.

Football is yet again in the spotlight, getting dragged into the mud by individuals and clubs in search for the elusive Star quality. I think this will open a can of worms and other clubs will jump on the wagon now to see what they can get out of it or what damage they can do. This is arrogance at it's best, are these clubs not happy with their lot.?Diving, poaching, what next.?

By paul.. Posted September 6 2009 at 8:30 AM.

the problem here is not about transfers,it is about poaching.different employment laws exist in different countries allowing english and some other countries to exploit these loopholes.it's up to fifa and eufa to adopt a set of rules applicable throughout the footballing world for all clubs not just for kids but also for third party ownership

By bill.. Posted September 6 2009 at 1:37 AM.

If clubs were banned from signing younger players we would have never heard of lionel messi. River Plate couldn't afford the hormone injections he needed because of his lack of height ( he would have ended up 4ft 5") but Barcelona signed him on the basis they would pay the money for the injections.
What needs to be addressed is the compensation system. Clubs are paying teams peanuts for future stars. Clubs should get a % of future sell-on fees.

By Ronan.. Posted September 6 2009 at 12:22 AM.

I think that in this instance that some of the blame rest's it our own FA. Ever since they brought in that stupid rule of banning clubs in England from signing schoolboy players who live more than 90 miles from the club of their choice, clubs have decided to bypass this by concentrating their efforts on the continent and Sth America. If this rule existed yrs ago, football might never have seen the full talents of Best,Charlton,Beckham and many more who chose Man Utd as the club to learn their trade.
While Platini and Blatter decide which premiership club to hold to account next,maybe Barca who shipped the Messi family to Spain when Lionel was just 13 might also be a target. But........they're not English are they!

By steve.. Posted September 6 2009 at 12:12 AM.

It is all very well banning international transfers for under 18's, but what about the British clubs from the lower leagues who get mugged by the Premier League teams? This would make things worse for them. The only way to stop this altogether is to make all youth contracts run until a player's 18th birthday. By the age of 18 a much fairer price could be agreed on.

By Martin Bailey.. Posted September 5 2009 at 10:49 PM.

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