England football team captain Wayne Rooney, who is on his way to join the elite band of the nation's greats at Wembley on Saturday, has admitted that he wanted to quit playing the game before his career even started.
Rooney has revealed that his dad and former Everton boss Colin Harvey talked him out of giving up when he had fallen out of love with the game when he was 14.
Rooney, who would be given a special golden 100th cap before the Euro 2016 qualifier with Slovenia, has admitted that he has no idea where he would be now if he had given up, The Mirror reported.
He said that for him Harvey was a massive help because when he was about 14 he really stopped enjoying playing football.
The Manchester United sicker added that around about that age, one starts getting told what different things to do on the pitch, and one is learning the tactics of the game. He said that he felt at that moment that he just wanted to go and enjoy it.
Rooney said that he felt that it was too much and remembers going home and telling his dad that he didn't want to go anymore. He added that his father was upset with him over it and then he went in to see Harvey and he was great for him.
Rooney said that it was really down to Harvey that he carried on, adding that the former Everton boss sat him down and made him fall back in love with it.
The skipper said that Harvey revealed that he had seen players throughout his career and that he hadn't seen any player with the talent that he had, so he would be making a mistake.
And, Rooney also added that Harvey told him that if he keeps working hard, then he would be in the first team quicker than he thought. He said that once Harvey said that, that's when he really thought that he used to be Everton manager, so he knows the game, and thankfully he listened to him.
