Wayne Rooney recalls stunning winner for Arsenal back in 2002… saying he was absolutely “fuming” before the game
England's all-time record scorer reveals he was livid prior to kick-off after David Moyes failed to start him for the game
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WAYNE ROONEY has recalled his stunning winner for Arsenal back in 2002... saying he was absolutely "fuming" before the game.
The Toffees legend, 31, burst on to the scene 15 years ago when he fired a late, long-range screamer past the despairing David Seaman to hand the Toffees all three points.
At the time, Rooney was the youngest-ever Premier League goalscorer - the only 16-year-old at that point to find the back of the net in the division.
However, even though it was five days before his 17th birthday, Roo has now revealed he was "fuming" at David Moyes for not starting him for the game.
Rooney told The Everton Show: "I remember I was just buzzing to score my first league goal [against Arsenal].
"I always remember thinking, 'I need to score in the Premier League before I am 17'.
"That was what I wanted to do, score when I was still 16 and that was the last chance I had to do it.
"Thankfully, Moyesy [then Everton boss David Moyes] brought me on and I got the winner.
"I was fuming before kick-off because I had played a couple of games before that and I thought I had done quite well and deserved to start.
"When I was 16 I was always confident, thought I was good enough to play and that was always part of my character as a football player – not being happy that I wasn't playing.
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"Obviously when you look back you understand why they were doing it – to protect me and because of the fact you can't physically play 90 minutes of all the games.
"But I just wanted to get on the pitch and try to make an impact, and thankfully I did that day.
"It's still such an important goal for me in my career. It was a goal I will always remember."
