Wayne Rooney took part in a round of “Winner Stays On” and showed little doubt when choosing between some of the very best players in football history.
Manchester United and England legend Rooney, who will be the playing manager of Soccer Aid at Old Trafford for UNICEF’s charity campaign on Sunday, became a viral hit online after his selections.
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The 39-year-old was given the task of choosing between two world-class attackers, and started the challenge with a difficult choice when he was pitted against Luis Suárez.
Despite calling it a “difficult choice”, Rooney ultimately chose to put himself ahead of former Liverpool striker Suárez.
United’s record goalscorer sometimes thought twice about it, given the quality of strikers he was pitted against, but Rooney still chose himself ahead of Harry Kane, Alessandro Del Piero, Neymar, Sergio Agüero, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland.
Self-confidence and belief in one’s own ability
Rooney, who was not lacking in confidence, scored 763 goals in his club career and 53 in 120 appearances for England – breaking Sir Bobby Charlton’s goal record until Kane came along and took it over.
He made his debut as a 16-year-old for Everton and knew from the start that he was the best player at his childhood club. He was also completely unaffected on the international stage at Euro 2004, where he scored four goals in four games and was named in the team of the tournament.
As a technically gifted player with an aggressive and street-smart mentality, he had no problem going hard into experienced defenders like Lilian Thuram – and played on the wing for much of his career.
Messi the only one he recognized as more talented
The five-time Premier League winner has previously played a “ten still” challenge with talkSPORT, where he was not allowed to say a word until he heard the name of a player who was “more talented in his youth than Wayne Rooney”.
Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham and his former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo were all mentioned, but Rooney didn’t say a word until eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi was named.
“Yes, I would say Messi,” Rooney said.
Rooney has previously stated that Barcelona legend Messi is “the best ever” and has “that little extra flair” that Ronaldo lacks.
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