Gotta love the irony of this headline:
Rooney's Left Foot, Not Right, Shapes England's Fate (Update1)
July 3 (Bloomberg) -- Wayne Rooney, whose recovery from a broken right foot was viewed by coach Sven-Goran Eriksson as key to England's World Cup chances, made his most significant contribution with his left foot.
The 20-year-old, renowned for his match-winning skills as well as his temper, got a red card from Argentine referee Horatio Elizondo for stamping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho's groin. England held on for almost an hour to draw 0-0 before losing a penalty shootout 3-1 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
Carvalho's Chelsea teammate Paulo Ferreira made the challenge in April that damaged Rooney's right foot. Carvalho felt the force of the striker's left shoe in the July 1 quarterfinal as Rooney reacted to a series of tackles. In 252 minutes in Germany, Rooney failed to score or get an assist.
``He was sent off for a bit of stupidity,'' former England coach Bobby Robson, who led England to the 1990 semifinals, told the British Broadcasting Corp. ``I feel he has to apologize to the manager and the rest of the players. He has to learn the art of good behavior on the playing field at international level.''
Rooney's injury prompted weeks of speculation about whether he would play, a spat between United and England, and a bill of more than $300,000 for bookmakers who offered odds on his recuperation.
He became the third England player dismissed at a World Cup after Ray Wilkins in 1986 and David Beckham in 1998. Beckham kicked out at Argentina's Diego Simeone before a quarterfinal shootout defeat and was vilified by media and fans, some of whom burnt his effigy. Beckham quit as captain yesterday.
`No Complaints'
Eriksson, who had ``no complaints'' about the dismissal, said the striker will rally as Beckham did and urged the media to go easy on the Liverpool-born player.
``I am absolutely 200 percent sure that Rooney will come back from this,'' Eriksson, who is quitting as coach, told reporters. ``He is the golden boy of English football. Don't kill him, I beg you, because you need him.''
Yesterday's News of the World tabloid ran the headline: ``Tears...and a Clown. It's Deja-Roo as England Lose Shoot Out Again.'' That was a reference to a 1990 headline on Paul Gascoigne, the most gifted England player of the 1990s who shed tears in a World Cup semifinal defeat. The Sunday Mirror led yesterday with ``Our Dreams in Rooins.''
It was Rooney's third red card in four seasons following dismissals at United and former team Everton. His temper was evident when Eriksson replaced him 42 minutes into an exhibition game against Spain in 2004 after Rooney had already received a yellow card and continued to make physical challenges.
`Should Know Better'
``Obviously he should know better anyway and we all felt Wayne had passed that test,'' Wilkins said. ``But World Cups are a difficult situation because the tension is there.''
Rooney scored four goals in Euro 2004 as an 18-year-old, prompting Eriksson to compare his impact to Pele's at the 1958 World Cup. England's youngest scorer, he got a hat-trick in his first United game in the European Champions League after joining for a fee that may reach 30 million pounds ($55 million).
England players supported Rooney after the game and rounded on fellow United player Cristiano Ronaldo, who urged the referee to dismiss him after the incident. Rooney pushed Ronaldo in the chest before the referee issued a red card.
``Wayne Rooney is not getting any blame from me because I love him and he's done so much for this team over the years,'' England midfielder Steven Gerrard said. ``I've seen Ronaldo going over and giving the card signal. If it was one of my teammates, I'd be absolutely disgusted.''
`Wild Dream'
Rooney broke a metatarsal bone in his right foot on April 29 and his rehabilitation dominated U.K. newspapers, with England's odds to win the title for the first time since 1966 fluctuating according to progress reports.
The injury caused friction between the English Football Association and United, whose coach Alex Ferguson initially said it was a ``wild dream'' to expect Rooney to play. United fired the doctor in charge of Rooney's recovery and, according to the Sun, told the F.A. it would sue if Rooney returned injured. United at the time declined to comment on the report.
Rooney was officially cleared to play June 15, the day of England's second game against Trinidad & Tobago. Introduced as a substitute at 0-0, he helped England recover to win 2-0. He started England's next three games and was deployed as a lone striker for the final two after Michael Owen suffered knee ligament damage and flew home.
Often chasing long passes to the corner of the field with few teammates to support him, Rooney showed only glimpses of the ability that made fellow professionals vote him England's young player of the year the past two seasons, Eriksson said.
``He missed some of the golden touches because he had not played for a while,'' Eriksson added. ``I always told him he would score the winning goal in the World Cup final but unfortunately we are not there.''
To contact the reporter on this story:
Sam Sheringham in Germany on ssheringham@bloomberg.net.
