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Wayne Rooney
02/05/2006: Even though he is only 20, Manchester United's Wayne Rooney is already seen as England's most important player.
Not only can the forward score great goals, but he can also create goals and link up attacking play. His versatility for such a young player makes him extremely difficult to defend against.
United's boss Alex Ferguson has said that he is the best young player that he has ever worked with – this from a man who has seen Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Paul Scholes come up through the United ranks.
Talk of Rooney's ability first came to light from Everton fans who watched him in training. Straight away, it was obvious that he had a special talent.
His sheer size as a teenager made him stand out straight away and even in those early days at Everton, he was able to shrug experienced defenders off the ball and charge past them with power and pace.
His first Premiership goal came against an Arsenal team who were at that time the best in the country. Rooney came on as a sub and curled a 25-yard shot beyond goalkeeper Lehman, and seemed to confirm that all the excitement surrounding him was not misplaced.
A bidding war for Rooney's signature began, with Manchester United and Newcastle emerging as the prime contenders. It was the Manchester side, however, that secured his services.
Manchester United unveiled Wayne as their biggest signing in the summer of 2004.
The move was quite drawn out, but the prodigy eventually moved to Manchester just before the closure of the transfer window in August. It is thought that the deal could eventually be worth as much as £30 million, if certain performance targets are reached.
Rooney himself said that the move had been tough to make, as he is a lifelong Everton fan, but he had to make the move in order to learn from the best players and appear in the best competitions such as the Champions League.
With all the hype surrounding Rooney, many wondered whether he could deal with all the media interest, but he seemed to be completely unaffected, immediately putting in great performances for Manchester United.
His debut for the reds could have been a tricky one, as he appeared in the Champions League for the first time against Turkish side Fenerbahce. But the young boy from Liverpool played like he was a regular in the competition, scoring a hatrick in his side's 6-2 demolition of their opponents.
One of his goals was a free kick of which England captain David Beckham would have been proud. He was immediately made a hero among United's thousands of fans.
Every now and again, Rooney has reminded everyone that he is still young, with signs of petulance and a tendency to lose his temper when things are not all going his way. But that kind of fiery temperament is part of what makes him such a great competitor.
But Rooney seems to save some of his very best performances for the England side.
Even in a season in which Manchester United have been second best in the domestic championship to Chelsea, Rooney has been their best player many times, with a murmur of excitement going around Old Trafford every time he picks up the ball.
Many pundits had been saying that England's chances of winning the World Cup rested on Rooney's young shoulders. Based on his performances during the 2004 European Championships in Portugal, this seemed well founded.
When Rooney was put out of that competition with a broken bone in his foot, his team struggled to create chances and went out on penalties to the hosts.
But it was against Chelsea at the weekend that tragedy struck for both the inspirational Rooney and the country again.
After a characteristic burst into the box from Rooney, the striker fell to the floor clutching his foot. Even the Chelsea fans seemed to go quiet as the crowd realised that a serious injury could put Rooney out of the World Cup and have a real impact on England's chances of winning the tournament for the second time.
Rooney looked to be in serious pain and, sure enough, it emerged that he had broken a bone in his right foot, the fourth metatarsal, which will take a minimum of six weeks to heal.
Realistically, that should put the unfortunate Rooney out of the World Cup, but he is so important to the side that coach Sven Goran Eriksson has said that he may take Wayne to Germany anyway, in case there is any chance that his star can play in the latter stages of the competition should England make it that far.
Wayne is said to be devastated by the injury, something that all Three Lions fans were hoping would not happen.
If England are to win the World Cup for the first time since 1966, they will probably have to do it without their best player.
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Comments on: Wayne Rooney
05/07/2006: He is the worst player ever
07/07/2006: He lets his team down by being too Manchester-like.
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