As Wayne Rooney prepares to enter his sixth international tournament, the England captain has picked out a nutmeg on Zinedine Zidane as his favourite memory.
Prior to his Manchester United move, an 18-year-old Rooney starred for the Three Lions at Euro 2004.
He netted four goals across the group stage’s final two matches, scoring a brace against both Switzerland and Croatia – these remained his only tournament strikes for a decade, until the 2014 World Cup.
However, Rooney insists his first game of the European Championships in Portugal was the most notable, despite suffering a defeat.
England lost 2-1 to France, with Real Madrid icon Zidane winning the match for Les Bleus through a free-kick and penalty.
The United No.10 recalls one other moment involving the playmaker more fondly though, when quizzed on his favourite tournament memory.
Rooney told The Football Republic at Niketown London: “It’s probably a bit strange, but my first game in Euro 2004 against France [was my favourite game].
“We lost 2-1 but I managed to nutmeg Zidane.”
Since retiring in 2006, Zidane has been actively involved with Madrid, taking on advisory and coaching roles.
This season, he was hired as Los Blancos’ first-team manager following the dismissal of Rafa Benitez.
Extraordinarily, he led the Spanish giants to their 11th European Cup, after winning the 10th as an assistant coach and the ninth as a player.
In La Liga, no other side won as many points as Madrid (53) following Zidane’s appointment, while his team averaged an impressive 3.15 goals per game.
Rooney also compared his own debut tournament with the latest batch of England youngsters, revealing that Steven Gerrard was the player to have helped him most.
He said on his relationship with the Liverpool icon: “I was close with Steven Gerrard, he helped me a lot.
“Probably the difference with the squad now is that there’s quite a few young players, whereas I was the only one [at Euro 2004].
“Stevie helped me a lot, I spent a lot of time with him at the hotel, and he just made me relaxed. The lads now have got each other, but when I can help, I will do.”
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