Gary Neville reveals why he was against Declan Rice and Jack Grealish ‘joining’ England
Wayne Rooney almost played for Ireland
Wayne Rooney almost played for Ireland
Rian Noctor
Today at 16:56
In 2004, Wayne Rooney, who had already made his mark at Manchester United, announced himself on the world stage at Euro 2004, with one of the best individual performances against France, when the Merseysider was just 18-years-old.
Rooney would go on to become Manchester United’s all-time top goalscorer and score 58 goals for the Three Lions, but two years before his arrival on the international scene, he could have represented Ireland, but, the then 16-year-old turned the opportunity down.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Rooney was asked if he could have played for another country.
“Mine would be Ireland, it would’ve been great,” he said.
“Mick (McCarthy) phoned me up because he spoke to Lee Carsley. I was close to doing it, but then they called me up for Ireland U21s, and I said I’m not playing for the 21s. I play for England U21s.
“So it never happened and then I went to play for England.”
Arsenal legend Ian Wright asked Rooney would he have accepted a senior call-up, to which he replied “yes.”
It was a case of what could have been for Rooney and another England player who caused much controversy with his decision was Declan Rice, who won three senior Ireland caps in 2018 before switching his allegiance to England the following year.
Speaking on the podcast, Gary Neville said he did not agree with England’s pursuit of Rice and Jack Grealish, who represented Ireland at underage level.
“I had a problem with this for England because they had to do a beauty parade – for Jack and for Declan – where they were having a meeting with the managers, and we had to convince both of them who to play for,” he said.
“I’m really strong about this – I was like, 'Tell them to pick their f*****g country’. It’s not a job interview going to play for your country – it’s not like, ‘This is how many caps you’re going to get’.
“Just play as well as you can and you might get in, you might not. I felt quite strongly about it at the time that we shouldn’t be going to interview players and begging players.
“The Association did [meet them]. My point was at the time, ‘No, don’t go and meet them. They want to play for England, they’ll play for England’. It’s a feeling – it’s not a conversation!”