Sports

Rooney falls short for England

There has never been any doubt about Wayne Rooney’s desire to do well for England but when it most matters, he isn’t doing it. The teenager who was brilliant in that debut match against Turkey at the Stadium of Light all those years ago hasn’t matured into the international footballer everyone imagined he would be.

He has now played at four major finals but only performed well in his first, the 2004 European Championship in Portugal. Then he looked to be one of the best players in the tournament before he was injured in the quarterfinal against the home team. He was rushed back from injury at the 2006 World Cup and whatever chance he had of making an impact was destroyed by indiscipline and the red card that followed.

South Africa two years ago was even worse, because Rooney was nowhere near his best and a bad tournament was worsened by petulant behavior at the end of a disappointing draw with Algeria. More indiscipline meant he missed the first two games of this tournament but one expected him to add impetus to England’s challenge when he started against Ukraine last week.

Although he scored that game’s only goal, he didn’t play especially well and one waited for the great Rooney to show up against Italy in Kiev. Instead, the player in the white No. 10 shirt was but a shadow of the man who gives Manchester United quality and leadership. He was one of England’s least impressive performers; unsure in possession, unable to trouble the Italian defense yesterday.

Apart from his very fine penalty in the shootout, and two decent attempts to set up Danny Welbeck in the first half, it is hard to remember much else that Rooney did. Not enough from a player considered one of the world’s best players two years ago. No longer can he be put in that category. Of the three finals in which he has failed to deliver for England, this was perhaps the most disappointing because Rooney is 26 and after being selected for a tournament in which he was unavailable for the first two games, he owed the team far more than he produced.

Watching him struggle with the pace of games in finals is becoming commonplace. Hearing many of his teammates attest to how keen he was to be involved having missed those first two games, one expected energetic performances from Rooney. But he was low on energy and without the change of pace that is normally one of his strengths.

England’s greatest weakness was their inability to retain possession of the ball and though he is technically one of the team’s most accomplished performers, Rooney was as guilty as the worst of England’s players in this regard. Too often he was surrounded by Italian defenders who saw him not as a threat but an opportunity to get the ball back.

Perhaps it is that in playing so often and giving so much for United through long Premier League seasons, Rooney just doesn’t have it physically for summer finals with his country. Given his love for playing for England, he will be mindful that the opportunities don’t last forever. And mindful, too, that another has passed him by.