Euro 2012: It is time for Wayne Rooney to crash the party

It is time for the self-appointed 'big man' to deliver at the big tournaments for his national side, writes Richard Jolly .

Wayne Rooney missed the first two games of the Championship for England through suspension but will be back for tonight’s game.

It was June 24, 2004 when Wayne Rooney last played in a European Championship. Then he was England's teenage sensation, the swaggering newcomer savouring his staggering rise to prominence.

With the fearlessness of youth, he had cut a dash through the group stage, scoring back-to-back braces against Switzerland and Croatia. Then came Portugal. Rooney limped out of the quarter-final within half an hour.

Eight years later, his return to the European stage is belated, delayed by the two-game suspension resulting from his October dismissal in Montenegro. It is eight years, too, since Rooney scored in a major tournament. His two World Cups have been singularly fruitless, showing that injury and ill-discipline the recurring themes of Rooney's England years.

That barren period is a reason why suggestions of Rooney's greatness should meet with scepticism. He may yet end his career as both Manchester United and England's record goalscorer but since his teenage years, his international career has been a failure.

George Best, a former Old Trafford hero, never delivered in tournaments for his country but, as a Northern Irishman, he never had the chance to. Rooney has had the opportunities. He was arguably the most disappointing player in England's dismal World Cup campaign two years ago.

Another United icon, Cristiano Ronaldo, was subjected to criticism for his international record before his match-winning double against Holland on Sunday. It was an emphatic retort from the Portugal captain but, even before then, the Real Madrid winger had helped his country reach a European Championship final and a World Cup semi-final, both at England's - and Rooney's - expense.

His former brother in arms has no such achievement to savour. A personal drought has contributed to a national malaise. Perhaps, given the primacy of the club game, international underachievement is not the stain on a reputation it once was.

Nevertheless, it is worth remembering that the 2011 Champions League final was billed in Italy as the best player in the world - Lionel Messi - against the most complete, Rooney.

Maybe it was an attempt to put United on a par with Barcelona which, as the game itself showed, they patently were not, yet it was an indication of the expectations on those broad shoulders.

On the night, Rooney delivered, scoring in a game when United were outclassed embarrassingly, and, with a red shirt on his back, he invariably does.

His latest tally of 34 goals equalled his best in a season; a high proportion either came against elite opponents or in vital matches - for much of the final day of the campaign, his strike at Sunderland seemed the Premier League title-winning goal.

Yet along the way, the sense is that flair has been traded for functionality. A productive season was not his finest in terms of form.

Either variant of Rooney, the thrilling teenager of 2004 or United's more reliable model of 2012, is a welcome addition for England. Roy Hodgson was quick to confirm that, despite his ban, Rooney would be in the squad and swift to say that, while both his strikers scored against Sweden, one - Danny Welbeck or Andy Carroll - would make way for the returning miscreant.

It is a sign of his status within the party. Over the years, the focus on Rooney has heightened as alternative attractions have aged, retired or, in the case of club mates such as Ronaldo, departed.

In an England party of old and young, the 26-year-old striker is a comparative rarity. He is near the peak of his powers but those gifts have only been displayed intermittently in his country's cause.

When he strutted back into their Baden-Baden training camp in the 2006 World Cup, having received treatment on his metatarsal injury, Rooney famously said: "The big man is back in town."

After his dismissal against Portugal, those words appeared especially unwise. Yet, in stature and ability, Rooney is England's big player. But it is time he proved it in tournament football.

Follow us