Man Utd legend Wayne Rooney reveals the ‘biggest regret’ of his career | Football

Former Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney has opened up about the ‘biggest regret’ of his illustrious career.

Rooney established himself as one of United and England’s greatest ever players during his hugely impressive 19-year professional career.

Having burst onto the scene at Everton, Rooney moved to Old Trafford in 2004 and went on to become the club’s all-time record goalscorer.

As well as scoring 253 goals for Manchester United, he also lifted five Premier League trophies under Sir Alex Ferguson and won the Champions League in 2008.

While international trophies eluded Rooney and England’s ‘golden generation’, he remains the country’s record appearance-maker for an outfield player and was the record goalscorer from 2015 to 2023 until current captain Harry Kane surpassed his tally of 53 goals.

It was not all plain sailing for Rooney, though, with the striker experiencing plenty of highs and lows both on and off the pitch over the course of his lengthy career.

And the 40-year-old said that one major decision in the early years of his career still leaves him with a tinge of regret almost 20 years later.

Rooney: ‘I should have never gone to the 2006 World Cup’

Having lit up Euro 2004 with four goals on his major tournament debut, Rooney was primed for another starring role in an England shirt at the 2006 World Cup.

However, his involvement was thrown into doubt just months before the tournament when he broke three metatarsals while playing for United in a 3-0 league defeat at Chelsea in April.

Rooney raced back to be fit for the tournament in Germany and was available for the Three Lions’ second group game against Trinidad and Tobago.

But ultimately, it was a tournament that ended in heartache for Sven-Goran Eriksson’s side and, in particular, Rooney, who was famously sent off in England’s quarter-final penalty shootout defeat to Portugal.

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And reflecting back on that World Cup earlier this year, Rooney conceded that he regretted even going to the tournament due to his lack of fitness.

‘My biggest regret is going to the World Cup in 2006 probably,’ he said on ‘The Wayne Rooney show in October.

‘I weren’t fit, I shouldn’t have gone, and then it ended with getting a red card. If I went back, I probably wouldn’t go.’

Speaking last year, Rooney also said that the red card he picked up against Portugal, for an accidental stamp on central defender Ricardo Carvalho, was his ‘lowest moment in football’.

‘That was a difficult one because I remember going in the dressing room and thinking, if we go through, I’m suspended for the semi-final and final if we get there,’ he told The Overlap.

‘If we don’t, it’s your fault. It was horrible.’

While Rooney overcame his foot injury to play a part in Germany, he later disclosed that his tournament was hampered by a groin injury he picked up in his first training session.

Writing in The Times in 2020, he said: ‘I don’t think anyone knows this, but we were jogging round the training pitch for the warm-up and there was a ball. I couldn’t resist.

‘I hit it from the halfway line, trying to strike the crossbar and felt my groin tear. I knew straight away. I was: ‘Oh, f*****g hell’.

‘I got one of the physios to quietly work on it every day. I was taking painkillers. I didn’t want to say anything because a lot of people had put a lot of work into getting me fit. I didn’t report the injury until the tournament was over — and there was a 6cm tear in my groin.

‘Looking back, I should never have gone to that World Cup. In the same position again, I’d rule myself out.’

Having retired from football in January 2021, Rooney has tried his hand at management with stints at Derby County, DC United, Birmingham City and Plymouth Argyle.

The Englishman has had mixed success in those roles and admitted he already has regrets over his ill-fated spell at Birmingham, which saw him replace the popular John Eustace before being sacked after only 15 games.

‘My biggest regret in management was the timing I went into Birmingham, for sure,’ he said on the Wayne Rooney show. ‘And the whole thing about it really is probably one I regret.

‘The owners were great from that point of view, it was just the timing. John Eustace was doing a good job and obviously that’s nothing to do with me when they got rid of John.

‘But going in at that time, the fans liked John, and they had started okay in the league, and I just wouldn’t do it again if it was in that situation.’

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