Former Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney has revealed his hilarious reaction after a famous encounter with a Real Madrid legend on the world stage.
Wayne Rooney had an illustrious playing career for both club and country, with the Manchester United legend widely considered one of the best strikers of all time.
During his spell at Old Trafford, the 38-year-old star lifted five Premier League titles, a Champions League, a Europa League, three League Cups and an FA Cup.
Rooney, who also captained United in his career, went on to become the Premier League club’s all-time leading scorer after breaking Sir Bobby Charlton’s record.
Despite lifting no major silverware during his international career with England, Rooney had a long-running spell with the Three Lions as a player.
Rooney would surpass United legend Sir Bobby Charlton as England’s all-time scorer before Harry Kane later eclipsed his former Three Lions teammate’s feat.
The former United striker served as England captain in his career and scored an impressive 53 times in 120 appearances for the Three Lions.
During his time with England, Rooney was a key player for Three Lions managers of the past and featured regularly at World Cups and Euros.
Rooney’s encounter with Real Madrid legend
Wayne Rooney’s first major tournament for England was at Euro 2004 and the former Manchester United captain was in scintillating form for the competition.
Sven-Goran Eriksson’s England side reached the quarter-finals of the competition before they were knocked out by Portugal after a penalty shootout defeat.
Rooney impressed during the Three Lions’ Euro 2004 campaign and the former England striker scored braces against both Switzerland and Croatia.
However, the former England captain pulled no punches in England’s Group B opener at Euro 2024 against France and impressed with his performance.
Chelsea legend Frank Lampard fired England into a first-half lead before Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane scored a second-half injury-time brace for France.
Before Zinedine Zidane sealed the winner for France from the spot-kick, the former Real Madrid star was nutmegged by Rooney during the match.
Rooney was thrilled by the aforementioned feat of nutmegging Zidane and hilariously revealed he sent a text message to his mate telling him what he did.
“I just couldn’t wait for the game,” he said, as per BBC Sport.
“I nutmegged Zidane and I remember texting my mate after the game, saying ‘I just megged Zizou.’
“I remember him [Lilian Thuram] doing an interview saying he didn’t know who I was and that stuck with me and I remember thinking, ‘Right, OK… Wait for this game, because if I get a chance, I’m going to smash you.’
“Around that time, I felt invincible like when you are on a fruit machine, you get the invincible level and just keep going, you can’t die. That’s what I felt like at that time.”
What did Lilian Thuram say about Rooney?
Speaking ahead of the match between France and England, Lilian Thuram didn’t hold back on Rooney and called him out for his lack of experience at the time.
“I doubt how much Rooney can give to the England team,” he said.
“He is very young – too young for such a hard competition like this.
“The Everton player is good but he is no Pele. Rooney is not Michael Owen – he was a far better player on his debut for the English team.”