England legend Wayne Rooney has revealed he got here very near playing for one more country.
Rooney established himself as one among England’s best ever players during a global profession that spanned 15 years.
The footballer-turned-manager amassed 120 caps – the second-most in history – and scored 53 goals, which was the record before Harry Kane became England’s all-time leading goalscorer in 2023.
While Rooney was a mainstay within the England team for over a decade, it seems things might have been very otherwise because the legendary striker very nearly ended up representing the Republic of Ireland as an alternative.
Speaking on The Overlap podcast, Rooney revealed he was approached by former Ireland boss Mick McCarthy in 2003 about pledging his allegiance to The Boys in Green.
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Rooney, who’s of Irish descent through his father, was open to the concept but rejected the approach after he was only offered a spot in Ireland’s U21squad.
Asked which country he would have represented aside from England, Rooney said: ‘Mine could be Ireland. It will have been great.
‘Mick [McCarthy] called me up after I was 16. I spoke to [former Everton manager] Lee Carsley and he spoke to Mick.
‘I used to be near doing it after which they said they desired to call me as much as Ireland U21s. I used to be like, I’m not playing for Ireland U21s, should you want me pick me in the correct team!
‘After which it never happened and I began playing for England.’
Former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright then said: ‘Wow, that’s close then! So in the event that they pulled you into the first-team you’d have went?’
Rooney replied: ‘Probably, yeah.’
Football associations approaching players to persuade them to modify allegiances has grow to be increasingly common lately.
Declan Rice and Jack Grealish each switched to England after spending years in Ireland’s underage teams. Rice even made three caps for Republic of Ireland before switching.
‘I had an issue with this after I was with England and we began doing parades for Jack and Declan to persuade players who to play for,’ said Manchester United legend and former England coach Gary Neville.
‘There was a gathering. I’m really strong about this, tell them to choose the country they wish to play for. It’s not a job interview.
‘I used to be really hard on that, I felt strongly about it and didn’t think we ought to be going to persuade or beg players to choose you.
‘It’s a sense you get, it’s not a conversation. Pick a rustic based in your feeling.’
Ex-Manchester United and Ireland captain Roy Keane added: ‘If you want to persuade a player you’re in trouble. You may’t pander to players, that’s not good.’
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