London: England and Manchester United’s record-breaking goalscorer Wayne Rooney has revealed that he was never a “natural” finisher.
Rooney scored 253 goals to break Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time record at United, before surpassing the latter’s England tally with 53.
Writing in his Sunday Times column, the 34-year-old said as quoted by BBC: “This might surprise you, but I’m not a natural goalscorer. I was never a Gary Lineker or a Ruud van Nistelrooy.” Rooney, since moving to Manchester United in 2004, made 559 appearances. He also won 120 caps for England. “I hold the goal records for Manchester United and England and I’m very proud about that – yet there have been better number nines than me,” he added.
“I played for United for 3 years, England for 15 years. I had time to break those records – and looking back I should have scored more.” Rooney also said recently that his lowest point came in the 2006 World Cup quarter-final game against Portugal, where he was sent off. Rooney was given the marching orders after then Manchester United teammate and superstar Cristiano Ronaldo played a role in the dismissal, with the Portuguese caught winking after his Old Trafford colleague was dismissed for a second-half stamp.
“There was a clear foul, the former Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho was pulling and pushing me and Petit came in from the other side,” Rooney wrote in his column for The Times as quoted by Goal. (IANS)
