Wayne Rooney has admitted that he regrets his outburst towards booing England fans at the 2010 World Cup.
Following a dire 0-0 draw with Algeria in their second group game at the tournament in South Africa, Fabio Capello's Three Lions were jeered as they left the pitch at full-time – and Rooney was caught on camera making his feelings equally clear.
"Nice to see your own fans booing you," England's record scorer sarcastically remarked.
Now, 12 years on, Rooney has been reflecting upon the incident – and the former Manchester United star wishes he hadn't reacted as he did. Writing for The Times on the eve of Qatar 2022, he explained:
"Obviously, I shouldn't have said what I did. It wasn’t a dig about England fans in general, just frustration at what happened on the day. I remember them booing us ten minutes into the game. You’re being labelled as a group of players who don’t care and it’s far from it: you probably care too much and are trying too hard.
"Personally, I’d have loved to play better – but I felt in a blur throughout the tournament. In training, I just couldn’t control the ball – I had no touch – and in games I was the same."
Having drawn 1-1 with the USA in their opening match England ultimately scraped through to knockout stages by beating Slovenia 1-0.
Rooney failed to score at the tournament, where Capello's side fell to a 4-1 loss to Germany in the last 16 (featuring Frank Lampard's infamous goal that wasn't...).
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