England Without Rooney
By Anthony Akaeze
Monday, May 15, 2006
There is anxiety in England over Wayne Rooney whose leg injury may deny the English football team of his legendary playing skills in the forthcoming World Cup
Wayne Rooney, the injured England striker, may not be at his best in the forthcoming World Cup. And that is on the probability that he gets selected, inspite of his condition. Recently, spirited attempts were made by both Manchester United, his club, and officials of the English football hierarchy, to offer him the best treatment, all aimed at ensuring that he gets over the foot injury he sustained in the league match against Chelsea.
The 20-year old attacker broke his foot as he took off on a solo run but was checkmated by Renato Ferreira. The charge saw Rooney writhing in pains. Scan reports later showed that Rooney's injury was serious and might make it impossible for him to feature in the World Cup.
Rooney is considered the best English footballer at the moment. Since 2005 when he joined Manchester United from Everton, the young man has had a distinguished career. His skills, vision and daring approach which although belie his age, have been instrumental to United's good run in the English premiership. And his influence reflects on his achievements: In two seasons - 2004/2005 and 2005/2006, he won the English young footballer of the year award. But his rise to fame began in 2004, during the European Championship that held in Portugal. He was rated the best player in an English team that played some of the best football even though they could not win the cup.
Before his present travails, Rooney was not free from controversy. After his impressive outing for England at Euro 2004, and once joining United, the player developed an ego problem. His occasional burst of anger, impatience and inclination to engage the referee in arguments, gave him out as not just temperamental, but a young man whose fame had probably gotten to his head.
His injury came at a time England was already lamenting the injury of Michael Owen, another of its influential players. The Newcastle striker has been nursing an injury for several months and has been on and off Newcastle's matches. This is not the first time a star player is nursing a big injury in the English team close to the World Cup. Before the World Cup that held in Korea/Japan in 2002, David Beckham, England's skipper, broke his toe. This generated a lot of anxiety among English fans, with the English Football Association and England's team officials literary being asked to ensure that Beckham was named in the World Cup bound squad.
To underscore the player's importance, Tony Blair, British prime minister, said that nothing was more important to England than Beckham's state of health. English football fans made passionate appeals to the skipper's doctor to 'bend it like Beckham'- that is, fix the injury. It was a way to underline the footballer's importance, of which his ability to bend in free kicks is legendary.
The same privilege has been extended to Rooney, as Sven Goran Erikson, England's boss, has said he would include the player in the final list to the Germany 2006 World Cup whether or not he is fit. But his legion of fans would want to see him in action - not on the bench!
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