Wayne Rooney has found his shooting boots less than a month into his stint as Derby County player-coach.
Rooney left D.C. United for the EFL Championship (England’s second division) after the 2019 MLS season, though he couldn’t play for his new club until the opening of the January transfer window.
Wayne Rooney is back on the pitch in England and he’s already making an impact with new club Derby County.
The former Manchester United striker left MLS side D.C. United at the end of the 2019 season to become a player-coach for the English League Championship club. He’s been training with the team and coaching under head coach Phillip Cocu, but wasn’t eligible to play until the opening of the English January transfer window.
Scoring a hat-trick in Europe’s premier club competition is no mean feat, especially so as an adolescent teenager between the ages of 13 and 19. The list of players to have accomplished the goalscoring achievement reads like a who’s who of the world’s greatest talent since the tournament’s adoption in 1992.
In fact, only 19 players have multiple Champions League hat-tricks to their name, with both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo having accomplished the task a staggering eight times. Nobody else has recorded more than three.
With last night’s 2-1 defeat to the New York Red Bulls at Audi Field, D.C. United’s chances of hosting a Conference Quarterfinal playoff game took a massive blow. The Red Bulls leapfrogged United in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with the victory, and any chance of a United win was effectively damned by Wayne Rooney’s straight red card in the 24th minute.
Wayne Rooney Red Card Vs. NYRB
If you’ve enjoyed the entertaining Wayne Rooney MLS stint so far, savor these last few months of the season.
Rooney, the iconic Manchester United and Everton striker who joined D.C. United in 2018, will leave the club following the 2019 season.
Wayne Rooney announced Tuesday morning he’ll become a player-coach of Derby County in January.
On Wednesday, July 31, the only friendly worth watching takes place at Orlando City Stadium in Florida — it’s the 2019 MLS All-Star Game, pitting the best of MLS against Spanish giant Atlético Madrid. What’s flying under the radar is that one day before the big game, there’s going to be an All-Star Skills Challenge.
This used to be a regular feature of MLS All-Star weekend, but for some reason I’ll never understand, they put an end to it. Here’s a brief recap.
ROOOOONEY. The 33-year-old has done it again. The last time he scored from his own half was for Everton against West Ham back in 2017, but the D.C. United attacker has now accomplished the feat stateside. And from much, much deeper.
Someone more finely attuned with the dimensions of Audi Field probably has the answer, but I think this one arrived from the White House.
The MLS Players Association has released data for the 2019 season this week, so now we know who is making the big bucks in this year's MLS campaign. This season's list was chock-full of newcomers, with five of the 18 players on the list for MLS highest paid players 2019 debuting this season for their respective MLS Clubs.