Wayne Rooney has surprised us, but is only one bad game away from becoming England's villain

On June 17, 2004, an 18-year-old young man with a short crop of ginger hair walked onto the pitch at the Estadio Cidade de Coimbra in Portugal in a white England shirt with the rest of his teammates. The Evertonian had made his international debut more than a year ago, during a friendly defeat against Australia at the age of 17 years and 111 days, making him the youngest ever player to represent England. But this was different.

Alongside Rooney in that England team that stepped out to take on Switzerland in the group stage of the 2004 European Championship were the likes of David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes and Frank Lampard. It was the peak of England’s golden generation of footballers and on paper this was one of the best teams they had ever fielded, obviously coming with huge expectations from their fans.

Rooney was unfazed by the occasion. Just 23 minutes into the game, he powered a header into the net to give England the lead. He had become youngest player to ever score in a European Championship. The 18-year-old went on to add another goal in the match and two more against Croatia four days later. All four goals were finishes worthy of a top-class striker, which helped England enter the quarter-finals.

“I don’t remember anyone making such an impact on a tournament since Pele in the 1958 World Cup,” said the England manager at the time, Sven-Goran Eriksson. “I don’t really know what to say. He’s absolutely fantastic, not only at scoring goals but he plays football – he’s a complete footballer.”

Even though England were agonisingly knocked out of the tournament by hosts Portugal in the quarter-finals on penalties, the future looked bright. A star had been born. In August that year, the 18-year-old joined English giants Manchester United for £25.6 million – the highest ever transfer fee commanded by someone aged less than 20.

Then, and now

On Thursday, exactly 12 years to the day he netted that brace against Switzerland, Rooney stepped out again in a white England shirt at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens, France, to face neighbours Wales in the group stage of the 2016 European Championship. The ginger hair had turned brown and thinned after a transplant and his face had lost all the boyish charm.

The 30-year-old was now wearing the captain’s armband and leading the youngest team to feature in the tournament. This time, there was no Beckham, no Gerrard, no Scholes and no Lampard by his side.

In the 12 years that had gone by, he had become England’s highest ever goal-scorer with 52 to his name, leapfrogging the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton. At club level, he’s only four goals behind Charlton’s record haul of 249 goals for Manchester United. It’s clear that he has had an extremely successful career and will go down as one of the greats of English football.

However, in spite of all this, England fans have shared a complex relationship with their Boy Wonder in the last decade. What started out as sheer exhilaration at the sight of the teenager dribbling and skipping his way past defenders at will and sending thundering shots into goal slowly transformed into irritation, as Rooney never managed to deliver in major tournaments. Ever since Portugal ’04, even as the golden generation bloomed and wilted away, England never passed the quarter-finals of the World Cup or the European Championship.

His temper, which was synonymous with him in the early years of his career, and controversies – including allegations of infidelity – that surrounded him inevitably kept him in the limelight, not always for the right reasons. Even Manchester United fans, who usually swear by him, had turned against him in the 2010-’11 season when he said he wanted to leave the club as it did not meet his ambitions, before dramatically signing a new deal, which doubled his wages to £180,000 a week, just two days later.

His game changed too as he grew older. From an out-and-out striker, Rooney slowly moved his way back in the formation – to the No. 10 position behind the striker and then further back in the midfield. To some extent, it was a forced transition, as United struggled with injuries and needed him to fill in the gaps.

Rooney did remarkably well in midfield for his club and, soon enough, made it seem like he always belonged there. The goals slowly dried up, but as chief playmaker, he was involved in many that were scored by his teammates. He learnt to keep a leash on his temper as well, and matured into a sound leader, both for club and country.

Answering critics

Yet, on the international stage, the fact that he suffered from big tournament blues meant that he never got his due from England fans. As Rooney entered Euro 2016, the debate that surrounded the team prior to the start of the tournament was whether the England captain actually deserved a place in the side. Many argued that he wasn’t the best player for his No. 10 position and playing him elsewhere in the formation would just be shoehorning him into the team.

Again, Rooney was unfazed. He even told the press that he was enjoying himself “more than I was in 2004”. He then proved it on the pitch, taking over the strings of the young team and orchestrating the play in both matches England have played so far. He isn’t as quick and agile as he was 12 years ago, but he has made up for it by keeping possession when required and spraying long cross-field passes with pinpoint accuracy, almost Scholes-esque now.

He isn’t perfect: he isn’t able to play the quick short passes like the younger teammates and was at fault for the foul that led to Wales getting a free-kick, which Gareth Bale converted into a goal. He also has a tendency to unnecessarily shoot from a long distance, but overall he has played better than some of the names who were expected to light up the tournament, such as Harry Kane and Dele Alli.

If there is one stat to point out Rooney’s efficacy in Euro 2016 so far, it is this, as per Squawka:

It’s only been two games, but Rooney is having his best tournament since Euro 2004. It all looks to be going well for the team too, as England currently sit on top of their group. However, Rooney probably knows that it would take only one no-show or another early England exit for him to be made the scapegoat again. If Daniel Sturridge hadn’t scored the late winner against Wales on Thursday, preventing a second straight draw for England, chances are Rooney would have been blamed for it.