Unaware: Fabio Capello had to tell Rooney his booking will lead to a suspension

Rushed back from injury for the return leg two weeks later, in which he hobbled helplessly around the pitch for five minutes, Rooney never truly regained his full fitness that season and any hopes England had of impressing at the World Cup in South Africa last summer were probably extinguished the moment their only truly creative force exacerbated his injury on that day.

It is arguable that Rooney is only now showing small signs of recovering his old self. The haste to return from injury has contributed to some unenviable statistics in the past 12 months.

Rooney has now scored just once for England in 15 games. Other than his goal against Switzerland last September, which came in the midst of allegations about his private life, his last contribution for the national team came against Croatia in 2009. And he has scored just 10 times in total in the past year, whereas in the 12 months before that fateful injury he had amassed 42 goals.

He is still so pivotal for England that he will be missed when they take on Switzerland in June. But one suspects that for Rooney, notwithstanding Manchester United's chance of winning the Premier League and Champions League, the end of this season cannot come soon enough. Now, at least, it will come a little sooner.

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