Wayne Rooney’s 15 most iconic career moments as he joins PL Hall of Fame

Rooney hall of fame

Wayne Rooney was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame earlier this week.

The award honours retired players who have achieved exceptional levels of success during their time in the English top-flight.

And if anyone should be inducted to the group, which features stars like David Beckham, Eric Cantona and Roy Keane, the former Manchester United striker should be in there too.

While the 26-year-old holds the record as the Red Devil’s all-time leading goal scorer, he is also the Premier League’s second-highest scorer with 208 league goals to his name, trailing Alan Shearer, who tops the chart with 260 goals.

And the man from Merseyside has scored some cracking strikes during his stints at Everton, Manchester United, Derby County and in the MLS with DC United.

Inspired by FourFourTwo, we thought we’d throwback to some of the striker’s greatest moments during his club and international careers.

While it’s not been easy narrowing down Rooney’s greatest moments to the list below, we’ve shortlisted 15 highlights from his career that show just how much of an incredible footballer the Liverpudlian was.

15 of Wayne Rooney’s most iconic career moments

15. His assist for DC United

While we all know him for his insane goalscoring records, Rooney’s ability to pick out an assist from anywhere on the pitch was sublime, and he evidenced this in his later playing years, putting in this insane cross-field pass while playing for DC United.

14. His assist for Robin van Persie

But he did something very similar against Aston Villa back in 2013, where he teed up Van Persie with an amazing lob pass that the Dutchman volleyed into the back of the net.

13. His Champions League goal vs Barcelona

While the game ended on a sour note for Manchester United, Rooney’s equaliser in the 2011 Champions League final at Wembley was very special and still gives us goosebumps watching it today.

12. DC United goal from beyond halfway

Akin to one of the impossible feats he used to pull off during his television programme ‘Wayne Rooney’s Street Striker’, this goal from beyond the halfway line for DC United really is something special.

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11. His free-kick for Derby

There was only one place the ball was going when the Liverpudlian stepped up to take this free-kick against Norwich in 2020 and rolling back the years, Rooney proved that class really is permanent.

10. Goodison Homecoming

While his return to his boyhood side Everton turned out to be a difficult affair, Rooney still managed to produce a spectacular goal from the halfway line against West Ham.

9. Terrorising West Ham

And that wasn’t the only goal he scored from the halfway line against West Ham during his career…

8. His relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo

It’s fair to say that Sir Alex Ferguson knew how to build a football team of great players.

But when he brought both Ronaldo and Rooney to his side back in 2003 and 2004, it’s fair to say Manchester United fans were watching two of the world’s greatest ever players combine.

7. England’s Record goalscorer

While Harry Kane might be hot on his tail, Rooney was the first-ever player to score 50 goals for England, beating Bobby Charlton’s 49-goal record to become England’s leading goalscorer.

6. Rooney vs Croatia

At 18-years-old Rooney was also dominating sides on the International stage and his performance for the Three Lions at Euro 2004 was perhaps one of the greatest individual footballing displays we have ever seen from an England player.

5. Record breaker

While the former England No.9 is no stranger to breaking records, there’s no doubt that he does them in style, and the free-kick that made him Man Utd’s greatest all-time leading goalscorer in 2017 was simply incredible.

4. His bicycle kick against Man City

Scoring a goal in the Manchester derby is a big deal, but scoring the winning goal in the derby via an overhead kick really is remarkable. Only Rooney, eh?

3. His volley against Newcastle

This goal in itself is a beauty. But what makes it so great is how the United striker seamlessly transitions from arguing with the referee to pelting the ball 30-yards into the back of the net.

2. Bound for greatness

No one will ever forget how the striker announced himself to the world with that thumping 30-yard strike against Arsenal in 2002 while playing for Everton.

1. THAT debut

Do debuts come better than this? Perhaps not, and scoring a hat-trick on his first game for Manchester United in the Champions League showed the world that Rooney was going to achieve great things in his career.

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