Fifa praises Wayne Rooney for his England performances at World Cup

Posted Friday, September 03, 2010 by theguardian.com

• Steven Gerrard and Ashley Cole also win Fifa plaudits
• One nominee apiece from underachieving France and Italy

Fifa praises Wayne Rooney for his England performances at World Cup
Wayne Rooney is replaced in the 1-0 win against Slovenia in Port Elizabeth, England's only victory in their four-game tournament.

The England World Cup squad returned from their dismal campaign in South Africa to headlines damning a performance in which they displayed "no spark, no spirit, no hope". Wayne Rooney, the Footballer of the Year, had become a "flop" and a truculent one at that, swearing at fans who booed the team off the park following their draw with Algeria at Green Point Stadium, or the "cape of no hope" as the Sun put it.

But today the revisionist view was put forward by no less an authority than Fifa's 16-man technical study group, which included the former France and Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier and the former Scotland manager Andy Roxburgh. Their report said England had in fact been a team with "strong, hard-working players" whose "aerial strength [was] used effectively at set pieces in defence", and they singled out Rooney for praise as a "hard-working, energetic striker; [who] worked hard for the team; good technique" and nominated the goalless centre-forward as one of England's three players of the tournament.

Yet in July, Houllier placed the blame for England's failure firmly at Rooney's door. "The key to understanding why England didn't perform at the World Cup is that the top players didn't do as well as we could expect them to," he said. "I'm thinking mainly about Wayne Rooney."

Houllier's Anfield past may shed some light on the report's acclaim for Steven Gerrard whose tournament started so brightly with his fourth-minute goal against the USA but faded into a series of aimless long-shots and positional incoherence during the 4-1 defeat by Germany.

The England captain was, the report maintains,, the team's most influential player, "a dynamic midfielder with good vision and technique, who linked defence and attack". England's "effective use of full-backs" impressed the group and earned Ashley Cole the final place among the team's three "outstanding players".

Fifa's assessment of the side will raise eyebrows with the long-suffering England faithful – although few could argue with the football governing body's assessment of Spain. The winners were "a complete team, arguably contenders for team of the century", proving the group had not completely lost their minds. But praising England's energy and industry does seem the equivalent of awarding an A for effort to the dullest member of the class. Either that or the report's authors have promising futures as alchemists, having just turned the basest of metals into gold.