At a glance

It is approaching 12 years since Rooney – England's all-time record scorer and the finest English player of his generation – burst onto the international scene at UEFA EURO 2004. He had made his bow the previous year, aged 17, and has since amassed 51 goals in 109 appearances. The former Everton prodigy, now in his 12th season at Manchester United, replaced Steven Gerrard as captain in 2014.

EURO pedigree

Mixed. Forward Rooney took UEFA EURO 2004 by storm with man-of-the-match displays against France, Switzerland and Croatia. A broken foot in the quarter-final against Portugal, however, signalled the end of his and England's campaign. England missed out in 2008 and though they made it in 2012, a red card in qualifying ruled Rooney out of the first two finals matches. He scored against Ukraine as Roy Hodgson's men advanced but could not help avoid subsequent last-eight disappointment, this time against Italy.

What he offers

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Importance for England

When David Beckham broke his foot ahead of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, one national newspaper carried a front-page picture of it and urged readers to place their hands on it and pray for a speedy recovery. Though England have a new breed – the likes of Jamie Vardy and Harry Kane – competing for places, it is fair to say that should such misery befall Rooney (again, as in 2006), there may be a similar response. England's last squad of 2015 had 62 international goals between them – the talismanic Rooney accounts for 51 of them.

International career

Debut: England 1-3 Australia, 12 February 2003 (friendly)

Appearances: 109

Goals: 51

EURO final tournament (England record)

Appearances: 6 (Gary Neville, 11)

Goals: 5 (Alan Shearer, 7)

Record: W3 D2* L1

*Both draws ended in penalty shoot-out defeats