Wayne Rooney & England’s World Cup Hopes

What does Wayne Rooney have to do for England to advance at the World Cup?

Wayne Rooney is without a doubt the most polarizing player on this England’s national team. As this English team has been floundering through its warm up matches leading up to the World Cup, one has to wonder what exactly Rooney must do to help his team advance. Rooney and his flashy blue and yellow Nike soccer shoes have always been at the forefront of every discussion relating to England’s World Cup team. While some may argue that they spend more time debating the coaching and playing style of the team, Rooney is without a doubt the best player on the team, and as he goes, the team goes. Rooney’s EPL season did not go exactly as planned, but one would have to look very hard to find reasons why Manchester United’s fall from grace this year was his fault. In fact the fall could’ve (and probably would’ve) been much further if not for Rooney scoring in bunches this year. Rooney’s ability to make absolutely breathtaking plays one moment, and a boneheaded play two seconds later is what makes him just so hard to figure out!

Has Rooney been able to control his temper?

While this has been over 8 years ago, fans still remember a young Wayne Rooney stomping on an opponent and receiving a red card in the process. While Rooney’s on the field temperament has not changed much over the years, he does seem to be able to know where the line is drawn for each match, and has done well to not overstep that line recently. Every fan knows that Rooney is the key to England’s success, and can sleep that much better at night knowing that a young, rookie mistake like he made 8 years ago, seems to be behind him as he matured into the player he is today. Plus I do not even want to think about the damage Rooney could do now, by stomping down on an opponent in the same way with his Nike soccer shoes.

Can England advance to the Elimination Stage?

This is the thing every fan wants to know, and of course the conversation comes back to Rooney. A win in their first match against a sound defensive team like Italy would go a long way in their hopes of advancing out of pool play. While I am not a betting man, if Rooney is able to hit a few solid shots from outside of the box, that definitely could help England’s chances of pulling out the W, as their offense of late has been just dreadful at finishing chances near the goal. With a win in the first match, this would allow England to relax a bit knowing that a single win from their last two matches would result in them moving on. While Uruguay and Costa Rica are by no means a cake walk, yet they are also not Germany and Portugal that the Yanks are being forced to face in consecutive matches. In the end it simply comes down to if England can score just enough goals to squeak out wins here at the World Cup. After going scoreless against a 10 man squad in Honduras today, optimism amongst fans is not at an all time high. However I do believe Hodgson and Rooney will find a way to right the boat, and England will end up moving on past the pool play round. With that said, it will take something special to move on further into the tournament, because any team that they will be matched up against in the single elimination round will be more difficult that the 3 previous World Cup games they played so far.