Waiting for Rooney

The big storyline heading into the England-Trinidad & Tobago game was whether or not 20-year old English superstar Wayne Rooney would make his World Cup debut. Rooney had broken a bone in his foot six weeks earlier in a Premiership game, and at one point it seemed doubtful that he would play in the World Cup at all.

But as the game progressed and England continued to struggle to find the net, the crowd began chanting his name- "Roo-nay! Roo-nay!" I'm no Ansel Adams, but I'm going to give myself a pat on the back for these two pictures capturing Rooney meeting with English coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, and then finally heading onto the pitch in the 65th minute.

Rooney's presence proved to be the spark England needed, as they scored twice in the last ten minutes for a 2-0 win. The video below is of the celebration after David Beckham's "cracking cross" set up Peter Crouch for the first goal.

Sadly, Rooney's World Cup would have an unfortunate ending, as his red card in England's quarterfinal loss against Portugal was a costly blow.