(Reuters) – Former England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney stated he was not ready for the pressure that accompanied his rise to elite stage soccer as a teen and he turned to drink to cope with his issues.
Derby County supervisor Rooney started his playing career with boyhood membership Everton, scoring his first Premier League objective in spectacular vogue as a 16-year-old towards Arsenal in 2002.
He then joined United and have become one of many nation’s most iconic gamers, scoring 253 targets for the Old Trafford staff and profitable 5 league titles and the Champions League.
The 36-year-old, who grew to become England’s most capped outfield participant with 120 worldwide appearances, stated he struggled to deal with fame after rising up on a Liverpool council property.
“To go from that to having to deal with turning into a Premier League participant at 16 and a global participant was one thing I wasn’t ready for,” Rooney informed the Daily Mail earlier than the launch of an Amazon Prime documentary about his life.
“I had by no means even thought in regards to the different facet of being a soccer participant. I wasn’t ready for that a part of life.
“It took a very long time for me to get used to that and determine how to deal with it. It was like being thrown in someplace the place you might be simply not comfy. That was powerful for me.”
Rooney stated his issues with consuming continued till his first son Kai was born in 2009.
“There had been instances you’ll get a few days off from soccer and I might really lock myself away and simply drink, to strive to take all that away from my thoughts,” Rooney stated.
“People would possibly know that I favored a drink at instances or went out however there was much more to it than simply that. It was what was occurring in my head.
“It was only a build-up of all the things… pressure of playing to your nation, for United, among the stuff which got here out within the newspapers about my private life, simply attempting to deal with all that pressure which builds up.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill)
