Wayne Rooney, Game-Changer?

We all know that England hasn't exactly had the best track record in major international tournaments, last winning the World Cup in 1966 over West Germany, and never winning a European Championship. However, Wayne Rooney thinks that his goal against the Ukraine on Tuesday will propel his team to Euro glory for the first time ever. In this morning's Telegraph article he event went so far as to proclaim that "no team will want to face England". Now while I certainly appreciate a good amount of confidence and boldness from professional athletes, I'm not quite sure that Germany or Spain are exactly quaking in their boots about the prospects of facing England in this tournament. I will give the English a slight edge over Italy this Sunday in the Quarters, but I just don't see them advancing past the Semis. Assuming that Germany takes care of business on Friday against Greece, then England and Germany will face each other next week in one of the Semis. The Germans right now don't look like they can be stopped by anyone, not even by Roy Hodgson's stingy defenders. I would look for both Portugal and Spain to advance and face one another in the other Semi, setting up an Iberian Coast showdown! Yes, I will definitely agree that Wayne Rooney is a game-changer. In fact, if the English didn't have him fit for yesterday's game, then they may have very well lost to that powerful Ukrainian side and we wouldn't even be having this conversation. But he certainly should not be mentioned in the same breath as Pele or Diego Maradona, or Cristiano Ronaldo or Leo Messi--he just hasn't earned that right yet, and I'm not sure that he ever will. But Rooney surely is a force to be reckoned with, having an incredible work ethic and will to win that most athletes don't possess. While Wayne Rooney should be considered one of the top 10 players in the world, he should not be considered in the top 5, as that class should be reserved for those players with more consistently high numbers each season, such as Messi, Ronaldo and Xavi (all of whom have been Ballon d'Or finalists, or winners, the past few seasons).

In case you haven't seen the goal yet versus the Ukraine, here it is--nice delivery into the box from Stevie G. and Mr. Rooney was "johnny on-the-spot" to head it home!