Wayne Rooney was just a boy when he was named to the England team for the 2002 U-17 European Championship. He hadn't yet played for Everton's first team, but he was nearing it and was a hot-shot prospect. Everyone pegged him as the Three Lions' U-17 star.
Young Wayne Rooney professed his love for England in a poem
Wayne Rooney loves England more than you.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
But what manager Dick Bate remembers of Rooney has nothing to do with his play or his potential. It was how much he loved England. And he really loved England. According to Bate, Rooney asked his permission to get up in front of the team and recite a poem that he wrote about how much he loved playing for his country. He titled it “When Saturday Comes.”
“I think it took most of the group aback,” Bate told the Guardian, although he wouldn’t say what was in the poem. “Here was a young boy just expressing his love for England in the best format and most succinct manner he could. I have never seen anyone stand up and do that before. I will never forget it.”
So next time you see Rooney playing for England running full speed for a ball he has no chance of getting to, or trying to win a header among four defenders, just know that he’s doing it in the name of the Queen. He’s doing it for England. Because he loves England.
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