Was Wayne Rooney England's greatest-ever football player?

It is said that a sportsperson’s true value is only acknowledged once they have retired and the dust has settled on their career. That assessment is especially true when it comes to football. More often than not top footballers are not given enough credit while they are still playing, but once they retire, the plaudits will pour in.

We can see that happening right now with Wayne Rooney and his decision to retire from international football. He has not retired from the game completely. He will continue to play for Everton in the Premier League. But the reaction to his international retirement has been largely kind and he has received a lot of praise for what he has achieved for the Three Lions.

Rooney retires as England’s all-time top goal-scorer with an impressive 53 goals in 119 matches. He is also the most-capped outfield player for England and second overall behind former goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who played 125 matches.

Golden Generation

In most teams, the record goal-scorer would automatically be considered as their greatest-ever player. If not, then certainly one of the greatest. For a big international team like England, winning tournaments is more important. Sadly, they have only won one – the 1966 FIFA World Cup.

Many pundits and fans would argue that for anyone to be considered as their country’s best, they would have to had won something internationally. Here is where Rooney falls short. He was part of the so-called “Golden Generation” of English football – an exceptional group of players who were considered some of the very best in their positions.

David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Michael Owen, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Gary Neville, Sol Campbell, Joe Cole and Rooney were the core group of this Golden Generation. Rooney was and still is considered the best player among them.

While they were brilliant for their respective club teams and won a lot of trophies, they could only manage back-to-back quarterfinal appearances at Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup for England. Being who he is, Rooney gets more flak than any of the others when it comes to their collective failure internationally.

Rooney was truly exceptional at Euro 2004 when he burst onto the scene with four goals. But his tournament was cut short with an injury against Portugal in the quarterfinals. England would go onto lose on penalties. Many believe England would have won Euro 2004 had it not been for his injury. Greater things were expected of him, but it just didn’t work out that way.

Big tournament blues

‘Wazza’, as he is fondly known, was in red-hot form for Manchester United towards the end of the 2005-06 season leading up to the World Cup. But in the title-deciding clash against Chelsea in April 2006, Rooney suffered a broken metatarsal after a poor tackle from Paulo Ferreira. Such was the concern for Rooney and England that even Chelsea fans could be seen feeling dejected by his injury.

In an attempt to get him ready for the World Cup, England’s backroom staff used an oxygen tent to speed up his recovery. While Rooney was declared fit and was selected in the 23-man squad, he was far from ready. Rooney didn’t look sharp during the matches and even got sent off against Portugal for a stamp on Ricardo Carvalho in the quarterfinals. England would again lose on penalties.

England then endured a miserable qualifying campaign for Euro 2008 as they failed to qualify altogether. There seemed to be a resurgence under Italian coach Fabio Capello as England easily qualified for the 2010 World Cup. Rooney was top-scorer for England during the qualifiers. There were some truly fantastic performances from 2008 to 2010.

But when the tournament began, England seemed to have regressed. The football played was dour and without imagination. A below average 0-0 draw against Algeria in the group stages was made even worse as Rooney criticised his own fans on camera after the final whistle. He subsequently apologised but it didn’t get any better as England were thrashed 4-1, albeit controversially, by Germany in the pre-quarters.

This was seen as the last attempt for the Golden Generation to win a major tournament together. Euro 2012 didn’t bring any joy either as England huffed and puffed on their way to the quarterfinals and lost against Italy on penalties. By the end of this tournament, most of that Golden Generation had retired from international football.

After this it just kept getting worse and worse for Rooney and England. They didn’t even get out of the group stages in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. And then came what is considered the nadir of English football. After being paired against Iceland in the Round of 16 clash at Euro 2016, many thought this would be a cakewalk for England. It was anything but.

Rooney scored an early penalty, but two quick goals from Iceland saw England trail before the 20th minute. While there was enough time left in the match, England’s players just didn’t know how to handle the situation. The score remained 2-1 in favour of Iceland at the final whistle. Irate fans saw this as one of Rooney’s worst performances in an England shirt. But to be fair, it was the same for almost all of the others that day.

England legend

Just like his club career, despite all the records, there seems to be a sense of underachievement for Rooney with England. Many rightly consider him as one of England’s best-ever talents. At his peak he could do everything and play in any position and excel. He was and still is a great team player adding to his individual brilliance.

Just before Rooney announced his retirement, former England striker Gary Lineker said that Rooney was under-appreciated. But as soon as the decision came out, current and ex-teammates, former players and most fans Tweeted their appreciation for Rooney. Now that he has retired, everyone will realise what a great player he was for England.

Rooney is not alone in failing for England in the big tournaments. A whole bunch of great players before and after the 1966 World Cup squad have failed in international football. The topic of ‘who is the greatest’ is subjective. Many consider Lionel Messi to be the greatest-ever player, yet fans of Argentina would never place him above Diego Maradona. Johan Cruyff is widely considered as Holland’s greatest player, but he didn’t win any international tournament. It was Marco van Basten who starred for them in the 1988 European Championships.

Sir Bobby Charlton starred for England during the 1966 FIFA World Cup and was England’s record goal-scorer for 45 years with 49 goals till Rooney surpassed him. For his individual and collective achievements, Charlton probably is England’s greatest-ever footballer.

Wayne Rooney does divide opinions. But as he has retired and once the dust has settled on that announcement, he will be remembered as one of England’s greatest-ever players.