News about Wayne Rooney getting a call-up to the England team is a tendentious decision which does not do the honour of playing for one’s country any justice. If a recall can be justified on any level then it is not here. Rooney holds numerous records for the national team – record scorer, record number of caps for an outfield player – but if he is to be awarded another appearance then it will devalue all the other caps.
Rooney is a player who last played for his country two years ago. He was well past his best even then and effectively walked off the pitch against Scotland with the words “I had now decided to retire for good from international football.” So much for that. Rooney becomes a dilettante of the playing arena and should leave the laces of this comeback untied.
Yet if he gets his wish then what about the other England heroes who have unfinished business with the England team? Surely The FA must now give caps to Garth Crooks or Steve Bruce who never once pulled on the England shirt when their services would have been valued. Then there’s Jimmy Greaves who was robbed of caps in the 1966 World Cups Finals – get him back up front – along with Paul Mariner, Frank Worthington and even Allan Clarke – they all deserve another shot. Michael Owen fell short of earning his 90th cap and so he might be interested in breaking into that exclusive club – besides, the game is only against the US (will they have Trump in their side?).
Alas, these sporting comebacks even for ninety minutes are more to do with branding and marketing. The sporting solecism of bringing back Lance Armstrong with the Astana cycling team in 2009 was about marketing and TV coverage. If the money was right then Ricky Hatton would surely enter WWE.
Away from the sporting arena, this hidden agenda of awarding talent and valour for an altogether less transparent nature was never more in evidence in 1953 when Winston Churchill actually won (embarrassingly gifted) the Nobel prize for Literature.
So awarding Rooney and his chevelure the last chance honour with an England appearance is an uneasy and grave error of judgment. It’s a slap in the face to every England player past, present and future and devalues the traditions.
Rooney is an erstwhile player so let’s not bring him out of international retirement.
Les Rowley's world 