Wayne Rooney has revealed which former teammate he believes is one of the best players he has seen take a penalty.
The England legend proved to be highly effective from 12 yards throughout his illustrious career as he scored 48 of his 61 attempts.
With Euro 2024 now underway, the former Manchester United striker reminisced on past tournaments with the Three Lions when speaking on The Overlap.
One topic of discussion was England’s shootout heartbreak against Portugal at the 2006 World Cup as they missed three penalties.
Rooney queried why Jamie Carragher was allowed to take one having missed his attempt, before lauding Chelsea icon John Terry as one of the best penalty takers he has seen.
Rooney naming Terry may come as a surprise to some given the former defender’s famous penalty miss in the 2008 Champions League final against United.
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He had the opportunity to win the tournament for the first time in Chelsea’s history but slipped and saw his effort hit the post, with United going on to win the match and title moments later.
“How can Jamie Carragher be taking a penalty in a shootout? That is like, shocking,” he told Gary Neville on their Fan Debate Euros Special.
“The thing I will say is, John Terry was one of the best penalty takers I’ve ever seen, honestly in training…
“So I went off the pitch [for United] in the Champions League final and I’m looking at him, because I’d seen him in training with England. I’m watching him walking up and I’m thinking, ‘It’s over.’ Thankfully he slipped!”
Terry previously reflected on the miss and said that he still thinks about it to this day: “I suppose a good thing with football is that nine times out of ten, you’ve got a game two or three days after, which is good.
“You don’t often get time to… unless it’s big finals or the Champions League when I missed the penalty, that’s still with me today. I often still wake up, literally the middle of the night and it’s there. Champions League final, missing the penalty.
“You have so many successes, but it’s strange how you remember that, but more importantly how everybody else remembers it as well, and reminds you.”
After his admission, new Plymouth Argyle boss Rooney revealed how he instructs his players to practice their penalty technique.
“I practiced penalties, where I’d tell the goalkeeper what way I’m going and do it properly. But it does frustrate you when players come up and try and mess around. I say to my players now, ‘If you’re practicing, do it properly, how you do it in the game.’
“You can do as much practice, but you can’t put in the place is the stadium, the fans, the pressure of it, obviously it’s completely different to when you’re stepping up to what it is on the training pitch.”
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