Former England striker Wayne Rooney made a successful debut with Derby County in the English Football League Championship. Rooney was associated in both the goal of his club’s 2-1 win over Barnsley on Thursday at the iPro Stadium.
The Manchester United legend was named as the captain of Derby County in his first professional appearance since his exit from Major League Soccer (MLS) club DC United. Rooney had agreed to join the Championship club in August on an 18-month deal as a player-cum-coach.
“The 33-year-old will arrive from Major League Soccer outfit DC United on an initial 18-month contract until the summer of 2021, with the option of a further year,” Derby had said in a statement.
“As well as penning a playing contract with Derby, Rooney will join the club as a coach and continue to develop his coaching credentials in preparation for a potential managerial career,” it further stated.
The record goal-scorer of the England national team, Rooney was clinical when he provided the assist for the first goal in the 14th minute of the match to Jack Marriott.
Derby’s second goal also came off a pin-point cross from Rooney as Martyn Waghorn finished successfully to take back the lead for his team seven minutes after Barnsley’s Elliot Simoes had equalised in the 50th minute.
For several weeks, Rooney had been training and sitting in the dugout and it was only on Thursday that he became eligible to play in the Championship.
It is worth noting that the 34-year-old is England’s all-time highest goal-scorer with as many as 53 goals in 120 matches. He also has another 253 goals to his name with Manchester United. Rooney is also five-time Premier League winner and has won the FA Cup and Champions League once.