Wayne Rooney has been reminiscing his stunning debut in a major international competition while still playing for Everton and was convinced he was the world’s best footballer.
Have Everton ever had the world’s best player?
Wayne Rooney, the Scouse superstar from Croxteth, admits he would have been sent off for smashing World Cup winner Lilian Thuram on his Euro 2004 debut, despite believing it was him 20 years ago.
In 2022, Colin Harvey, a former Everton player and manager, stated to the ECHO that the club had two truly great players. I never saw Dixie Dean play, but his goal-scoring record is incredible. The other one was Alan Ball.
“What about Neville Southall?” “Nev was the best goalkeeper in the world, but goalkeepers are not footballers.”
When Rooney was still playing for Everton’s youth teams, Harvey compared him to Kenny Dalglish, but with more speed!
Rooney became the most expensive teenager in football when he joined Manchester United later that summer. However, he went into the European Championships in Portugal having scored nine goals in 34 Premier League games for Everton, who finished 17th with only 39 points. From a personal standpoint, he was already persuaded he was the world’s best player.
Rooney, now 38, told the Times that life was simpler when he was 18 years old. I felt no pressure, only enthusiasm, approaching my first tournament.
“And I knew I was the finest player in the world. It wasn’t arrogance, but more fearlessness.
“It was almost a foolish belief that nothing and no one could stop me on a football pitch. Euro 2004? “I couldn’t wait.”
Rooney was chosen to UEFA’s Team of the Tournament after scoring four goals in as many games for England, but he said he could have had a terrible start if video refereeing technology had existed a few decades before. He remarked: “The first game was against France, and before the match, one of the press guys sent me an article in which Lilian Thuram declared I was too young to make an impact in the finals. In my brain, I was thinking, ‘OK, we’ll see…’
“I didn’t lose sleep over it, but I resolved that if given the chance, I’d bash him. So I did. If there had been VAR, I would have been sent out.
“During the game, I had the impression Thuram was intimidated by me. He clearly learned who I was.
“Instead of worrying about all of France’s top players, I went into it thinking about what I’d do with the ball, and I quickly nutmegged Zinédine Zidane.
“I hadn’t given it much thought at the moment. It wasn’t until after the game that your friends started messaging you: ‘YOU JUST MEGGED ZIDANE!’
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