ROY Keane was able to provide the Irish perspective as Wayne Rooney revealed he came close to declaring for the Boys in Green.
It turned out that what prevented it from becoming a reality was that Rooney realised he’d only been called up to the U21s rather than the actual BIG.
Man United’s all-time top-scorer was 16 at the time[/caption]
The Liverpool native casually revealed that things got as far as speaking to then-boss Mick McCarthy after Everton teammate Lee Carsley had first broached the possibility.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, the 39-year-old was asked which other country he would’ve played for in an alternate reality.
Rooney recalled: “Mine would be Ireland. Mick called me up.
“I spoke to Lee Carsley, and he spoke to Mick and I was close to doing it.
“Then they called me up…for the 21s. I was like, ‘I’m not playing for Ireland U21s’. I can play for England 21s.
“It obviously never happened, and I went to play for England.
“I would have probably went [if they put me in the first team].”
At that juncture ex-United teammate Keane quipped: “That was another one of your big mistakes.
“You could have played for Ireland. You live to regret it!”
Rooney went on to be an England legend, winning 120 caps and scoring 53 goals in a 15-year international career where he was captain for three years.
He made history as the youngest player to play for his country when he won his first cap in a friendly defeat to Australia at the age of just 17-years and 111 days.
Rooney also went on to become to the youngest player to score for England when he netted against Macedonia at the age of 17.
Additionally, he made history as the youngest scorer in European Championship history when he bagged a brace against Switzerland at Euro 2004.
However, that record was broken just four days later by Swiss midfielder Johan Vonlanthen.
So while it’s hard to imagine he regrets his decision in any way, share or form, the same cannot be said for Irish supporters en masse.
DAY ROO-INED
They took Thursday’s bombshell with good humour but no shortage of dramatics either!
Liam posted ‘When will our suffering end’ while Jamie bemoaned ‘another mistake by the FAI the team we could have had sigh’.
A third theorised: “[Shay] Given; [Steve] Finnan – [Richard] Dunne – [John] O’Shea – Hates; [Aiden] McGeady – [Roy] Keane – [Matt] Holland – [Damien] Duff; [Wayne] Rooney – [Robbie] Keane
“Holy f***ing s*** we would’ve won Euro 2004 with that team.”
A fourth argued: “16-year-old Rooney could’ve easily started for the Irish senior team. Offering him the U21s was a mistake.”
Finally, Anto fumed: “Big Mick f***ed up there.
“Could’ve had Rooney playing for Ireland if he had more sense and put him in the full team.”
