WAYNE ROONEY believed he was the BEST player in the world when he went to Euro 2004.
The then-teenager announced himself on the global stage with a series of stellar displays in his first major tournament before limping out of England’s quarter-final defeat by Portugal with a broken foot.
Rooney led holders France a merry dance in the Three Lions’ opening game, before becoming the youngest scorer in European Championship history against Switzerland.
He scored two more in the final group game with Croatia and flicked on for Michael Owen to put England ahead against the tournament hosts in Lisbon.
Rooney – who actually only came eighth in the 2004 Ballon d’Or, won by Andriy Shevchenko – recalled: “It’s not actually until you get there when you get to your base and you are thinking let’s go and do it.
“I remember being excited around the hotel and being eager to get to play. I was an 18-year old kid just enjoying myself.
“You need to keep yourself occupied because you’ve got the pressure of the country on your shoulders.
“But I was there at 18, thinking to myself I was the best player in the world but there was no one better than me and I believe at that time I was.
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“I wasn’t looking and thinking, ‘that’s Zinedine Zidane’. I was thinking ‘we’re going to beat you, we’re too good for you’.
“It could have been Pele, George Best and Maradona on the other side – it wouldn’t have mattered.”
Rooney’s fearlessness was demonstrated against the French, especially against full-back Lilian Thuram, who had questioned his readiness for battle in the build-up.
He added: “You could see their centre-backs were scared to come near me, scared that I’d go past them.
“Physically I could handle myself against them.
“I just banged right into Thuram, into his jaw.
“And I looked back at him as if to say ‘now you know who I am!’ I still to this day see his face and the fear thinking what was he going to do with me.
“I felt like if we were going to win the tournament it was because of me and if we didn’t win it it was because of me.”
But there was nothing Rooney could do when his body let him down in the last-eight clash against Portugal, which England lost on penalties.
He said: “I knew straight away something had gone. I heard it pop and felt it crack.
“I was thinking ‘Oh no!’
“There was just no way I could have played on. I was devastated.
“I went to a Portuguese hospital for an X-ray and I went into the reception area and there was an old TV high up in the corner with the penalties on.
“I remember watching Darius Vassell walk up and I didn’t fancy him at all to score. When you see that fear in someone’s face….
“All of a sudden it’s over and I’m sat in a Portuguese hospital in my England kit and to make it worse it was against Portugal so they were jumping up in the hospital.”
However, Rooney’s displays at Euro 2004 led to a £27million move to Manchester United, where he won 16 trophies and scored a record 253 goals.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
