Wayne Rooney: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Plenty of highs and lows for Wayne

England boss Roy Hodgson insists that Wayne Rooney's best years for England are ahead of him. Ahead of his 100th international appearance for his country, Lewis Jones takes a trip down memory lane to review Rooney's ten most iconic England moments. Is Roy talking balderdash or does he have a point? Let's see....

10: Dead ball specialist

A game which will be famed as the day Raheem Sterling told the world of his tiredness but a memorable one for Rooney, who kept England's 100% record intact in Group E with the winning goal 17 minutes from time. It was his 43rd goal for his country.

9: Rooney becomes youngest ever scorer

From his most recent strike, to his first. He re-wrote the history books in 2003 to become England's youngest scorer as Sven-Goran Eriksson's side came from behind to win the crucial Euro 2004 qualifier in Macedonia. Belying his 17 years and 317 days on this planet, Rooney latched onto a perfect Emile Heskey knockdown and hammered home a powerful drive in a 2-1 win.

8: Using his head

"Believe in the weave," was the cry from the nation as a newly hair transplanted Rooney stooped to head England into the knockout stages of Euro 2012.

7: Rooney sees Red

Then England manager Fabio Capello insisted Rooney was in the right frame of mind to play in Podgorica despite his father being arrested earlier in the week: his frustrated kick-out at Miodrag Dzudovic suggested otherwise. As a result, the England man was suspended for two of the three Euro 2012 group games.

6: Road to Brazil

It was a game England needed to win to gain automatic qualification to Brazil and Rooney stepped up to the plate, opening the scoring at Wembley against Poland. It was a fitting way to end a campaign that saw England's main man score seven times in qualification.

5: Mastering the Maracana

It says a lot for his perhaps over-egged achievements in an England shirt that at number five we have a goal from a friendly - but the opposition, stage and quality of the goal justifies its lofty position. In an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Maracana, Rooney rolled back the years to his more direct younger days with a finely conjured up individual goal.

4: Breaks World Cup duck

Not a goal that will enter any top-10 England World Cup moments, but at the time Rooney's late equaliser against Uruguay - his first goal in a World Cup - sent beers flying around the country. Normal service was resumed though as Luis Suarez ended England's World Cup dream moments later.

3: Wayne's rant

The red mist has descended a few times throughout his career but this episode was perhaps the most extraordinary. After labouring to a 0-0 draw with Algeria at the World Cup and with the England fans boos ringing in his ears, Rooney decided to question their loyalty. England actually progressed out of the group but were then sent packing by a vibrant German team in the knockout stages.

2: You winker!

With just two goals in his last 16 internationals and nursing an injury Rooney cut a frustrated figure throughout England's 2006 World Cup campaign. All that anger came bubbling to the surface against Portugal in the quarter-finals as he was sent off for a stamp on Ricardo Carvalho with help from Cristiano Ronaldo. Yep, you guessed it. England lost 3-1 on penalties.

 1: The boy wonder

Back in the days when Bryan McFadden was rattling home the number No.1's and Harry Styles was probably not even an embryo yet, Rooney was a strong, direct and pacey centre-forward that gave defenders serious problems in an England shirt.

His performance in Euro 2004 made the world sit up and notice. He bagged four goals in the group stages in a very exciting England team. However, Rooney suffered an injury in the quarter-final match against Portugal, and England were eliminated on penalties. Sigh.

Rooney is 14/5 to score first against Slovenia on Saturday

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What do you think? Has Lewis missed out a key Rooney moment? Can the United man be called a true 'England legend'? Let us know by commenting below or tweeting @Betfair

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