Wayne Rooney - International Career

International Career

Rooney became the youngest player to play for England when he earned his first cap in a friendly against Australia on 12 February 2003 at seventeen, the same age at which he also became the youngest player to score an England goal. Arsenal youngster Theo Walcott broke Rooney's appearance record by 36 days in May 2006. This came after Wayne ignored calls from Irish supporters to play for the Republic of Ireland, whom he is eligible to play for due to his Grandmother being born in Ireland.

His first tournament action was at Euro 2004, in which he became the youngest scorer in competition history on 17 June 2004, when he scored twice against Switzerland; however, this record was topped by Swiss midfielder Johan Vonlanthen four days later. Rooney suffered an injury in the quarter-final match against Portugal and England were eliminated on penalties.

Following a foot injury in an April 2006 Premier League match, Rooney faced a race to fitness for the 2006 World Cup. England attempted to hasten his recovery with the use of an oxygen tent, which allowed Rooney to enter a group match against Trinidad and Tobago and start the next match against Sweden. However, he never got back into game shape and went scoreless as England bowed out in the quarter-finals, again on penalty kicks.

Rooney was red-carded in the 62nd minute of the quarter-final for stamping on Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho as both attempted to gain possession of the ball, an incident that occurred right in front of referee Horacio Elizondo. Rooney's Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo openly protested his actions, and was in turn shoved by Rooney. Elizondo sent Rooney off, after which Ronaldo was seen winking at the Portugal bench. Rooney denied intentionally targeting Carvalho in a statement on 3 July, adding, "I bear no ill feeling to Cristiano but I'm disappointed that he chose to get involved. I suppose I do, though, have to remember that on that particular occasion we were not teammates." Elizondo confirmed the next day that Rooney was dismissed solely for the infraction on Carvalho. Rooney was fined CHF5,000 for the incident.

Rooney top scored for England in their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign with 9 goals; one behind the UEFA section's overall top goalscorer, Theofanis Gekas of Greece. On 14 November 2009, Rooney captained England for the first time in a pre-tournament friendly with Brazil.

During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, after England drew with Algeria, the England players were booed off the pitch by supporters. Rooney made a comment as he left the pitch to television cameras saying, "Nice to see your home fans boo you, that's loyal supporters". He later apologised for the comment made during a lacklustre tournament for England who were eliminated in the second round.

The Euro 2012 qualifications went well for England, as they qualified in first place of their group, winning five and drawing three games out of eight. Rooney scored three goals, one against Switzerland and two against Bulgaria. In the last qualifier against Montenegro (2–2), Rooney was sent off for a tackle on Miodrag Džudović in the 74th minute. At first, it was known that Rooney would miss at least one match in the opening round of the first phase at UEFA Euro 2012. After the game with Montenegro, Rooney sent a personal letter to UEFA in which he apologised and expressed regret for the tackle on Džudović which earned him the red card. Despite the letter, UEFA punished Rooney with a three game ban, meaning that he couldn't play in any of the group stage matches. After UEFA's announcement, Džudović stated that he believed the sentence for Rooney was too severe and that he would defend him if needed. He later asked the UEFA to pardon Rooney. The FA then decided they would appeal to UEFA against the ban. On 8 December 2011, after The FA had appealed the ban, UEFA reduced the sentence to two matches. This meant that Rooney missed the matches against France and Sweden. He was able to play in the final match of the group stage against Ukraine on 19 June 2012, scoring the only goal of the game, allowing England to progress to the quarterfinals. England were eventually knocked out in the quarter-finals against Italy, who after a scoreless 120 minutes won 4-2 on penalties, although Rooney was able to net his spot-kick.

After another international tournament in which the Englsh media criticized Rooney's performances, Fabio Capello claimed Rooney "only plays well in Manchester" However, on 12 October 2012, Rooney became England's 5th highest goalscorer of all time after scoring his 30th and 31st international goals in a 2014 World Cup qualifier against San Marino. Rooney captained England for the first time in a competitive match in the same game.