By Dan Smith.
Monday afternoon saw England somewhat cruise to a victory against local side Platinum Stars but the whole of the footballing world would have seen Rooney’s rage once again, 6 day’s before England’s Cup campaign kicks off.
Some of his colleagues still say that the fire Rooney has, makes him the player he is, others say he is just petulant. Even the referee of yesterdays ‘friendly’ match was surprised to see, and hear, Rooney’s rage.
“It’s a shame. He is a good player when you see him on the TV, but when you see him on the pitch, he just keeps on insulting the referees,”
The last World Cup ended sadly for Rooney after seeing red for stamping on Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho and having his then team mate, Cristiano Ronaldo, convincing the ref to show him the red.
This time around though, Rooney will need to keep a lid on the niggles and kicks he may well receive from opposition players if we are to make it to the latter stages of the World Cup. There is no doubt Rooney is our main man, our talisman, our potential world player of the year, but he carries with him a ticking time bomb at times which will undoubtedly, leave us vulnerable should it go off during the finals.
I personally feel, Rooney’s temper does more good than bad, the more wound up Rooney gets, the more effort he seems to put in. The warm up against Japan being a great example, having lost possession in the Japanese half, Rooney sprinted half the pitch and more to make a tackle any center half would be proud to make, pushing aside Glen Johnson’s advances.
Has the England front man got the patience to deal with a barrage of World Class defenders that know his track record? Or will his pocket time bomb go off again and handicap England once more? We will see come June the 12th.
