There is nowhere to hide for Wayne Rooney. Not that he would, he never has. But now he is called upon to step up and carry both England and Manchester United on his back. And if he does not do it it is hard to see who will.
At Everton, he was the wonderkid. He broke records as a teenager, just as he was supposed to. The moments of genius came, but nobody was expecting them.
He landed at United with a splash - notching a Champions League hat-trick on his debut - but he was always the sidekick.
First he was Tonto to Ruud Van Nistelrooy's Lone Ranger. And, after the Dutchman left, Cristiano Ronaldo took over for the next three seasons. Now, he too is gone.
When Rooney contemplates his teammates he cannot escape the fact that he is now The Man.
There is a talented but erratic 28-year-old Bulgarian, who has average 12 league goals a season in his Premier League career and has a tendency to disappear in big games (Dimitar Berbatov) and an injury-ravaged goalscorer whose body has enabled him to start an average of just 14 league matches since 2005 (Michael Owen). Plus, there are two 18-year-olds (Danny Welbeck and Federico Macheda) and a 22-year-old who scored a single goal in 27 appearances last season in the French League (Gabriel Obertan).
Things do not get much better when he looks further back, to midfield: two guys who will be 35 and 36 respectively by Christmas (Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs), a 21-year-old Brazilian who made just eleven starts last year (Anderson) and a couple of holding midfielders (Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick).
Even less help looks to be coming from the wings, where he finds a guy signed from Wigan who has scored half as many league goals in his career than Ronaldo scored just two seasons back (Antonio Valencia), a somewhat erratic winger (Nani) and a South Korean workhorse (Park Ji Sung).
Sure, the defence is solid, but who is going to take the game by the scruff of the neck? The man in the mirror, that is who.
England do provide a better supporting cast, at least in terms of match-winners. Steven Gerrard for one, though he has saved his best performances for Liverpool, at least until now.
Frank Lampard scores plenty for Chelsea, though his ratio declines quickly once he steps into an England shirt. David Beckham can and has stepped up in an England shirt, but he turns 35 in May and, these days, is really only a threat on dead balls.
More worrying is the lack of a top-drawer strike partner. None of Rooney's colleagues up front even play in the Champions League, which tells its own story.
Fabio Capello has all but said it: unless the Gerrard we saw in Istanbul shows up and takes over, England will sink or soar in South Africa by Rooney's performances.
Pressure? He is one of those rare animals who either does not feel it or thrives on it. Otherwise he wouldn't be on the verge of breaking into the top ten of England's all-time leading scorers at 23.
His two footballing mentors, Capello and Sir Alex Ferguson, have set the table for him.
Last year, they focused on turning him into one of the greatest support strikers in the world. Rooney sacrificed himself out wide, part winger, part fullback, part creative force, supplying the front man. No more. The Rooney who would run himself into the ground at the service of others now must become the offensive terminus for club and country.
"The biggest compliment I can give him is that even when he plays badly he makes an enormous contribution," Capello says.
"Rarely do you see a man with so much ability work so hard. But now his position has changed and he'll have to adapt."
Is he ready? We will find out soon enough. What is certain is that if he comes up short it will notbe for lack of work rate. If anything, it will be for lack of a supporting cast.
Gabriele Marcotti is an expert on European football
gmarcotti@thenational.ae
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
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Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
RESULTS
5pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner AF Nashrah, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Mutaqadim, Riccardo Iacopini, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
6pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Hameem, Jose Santiago, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
6.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner AF Almomayaz, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner Dalil Al Carrere, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash.
7.30pm Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Lahmoom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8pm Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,000m
Winner Jayide Al Boraq, Bernardo Pinheiro, Khalifa Al Neyadi.
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Results
Stage seven
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:20:24
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 5s
General Classification
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 25:38:16
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 22s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 48s
UAE%20medallists%20at%20Asian%20Games%202023
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Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
