Exactly 20 years to the day since young Enzo Scifo of Belgium played against Yugoslavia, Rooney earned his place in the record books and ironically left the field a "winner".

When coach Sven-Goran Eriksson replaced the teenager with Emile Heskey after 75 minutes, England were leading champions France 1-0 at the Luz Stadium. Delighted English fans gave him a standing ovation as he left the field.

By the time the England players walked off some 20 minutes later, they had lost the Euro 2004 game 2-1.

Rooney had done as much as anyone to secure that 1-0 lead. He was the link between defence and attack, tackled like a demon - even robbing Zinedine Zidane of the ball once - and often bewildered Lilian Thuram and William Gallas with his runs.

He was also responsible for creating the chance that England should have taken to seal victory in the second half.

With England leading 1-0 thanks to Frank Lampard's first-half header, Rooney powered forward on a 50-metre run from the halfway line and was stopped by Mikael Silvestre's scything tackle in the penalty area.

England skipper David Beckham watched in horror as his old Manchester United club mate Fabien Barthez saved his spot kick.

In injury time Heskey, who replaced Rooney, was guilty of a reckless challenge on Claude Makelele to concede the free kick from which Zidane equalised. A Zidane penalty in the dying seconds gave France victory.

Rooney's rugged, never-say-die approach helped him outshine his strike partner Michael Owen and apart from one lecture from referee Markus Merk, he kept his temper in check.

Already England's youngest ever player and goalscorer, Rooney, who does not turn 19 until October, is developing into one of England's finest talents.

Everton, the club he has supported since he was a boy, will struggle to hold on to him although Sunday's performance probably added several million to his value.