Wayne Rooney confesses: “I could have killed someone or myself because of alcohol”

Wayne Rooney hit rock bottom because of his alcohol problems.

The former English soccer player revealed that he came to fear for his life or even for hurting someone, when he spent a period of compulsive consumption of alcoholic beverages.

In conversation with the BBC before the launch of a new documentary about his life, he explained that he was dragged by the drink, as well as for the mental problems he had in a very dark period.

When asked what his greatest fear was at that time, he replied: “Probably death”.

“I could drive under the influence of alcohol, I which I did, I could have killed someone, I could have killed myself.”

Wayne Rooney says he feared he could have died or killed someone at the lowest point of his drinking problems.

More from his interview with @bbcbreakfast& #39;s @sallynugent

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“I knew I needed help to save myself but also to save my family.”

Rooney also revealed that he felt that as player had to keep a lot of his problems secret.

“It makes 10 or 15 years, I couldn’t walk into the locker room and say ‘I’m struggling with alcohol, I have mental health issues.’ I couldn’t do that”.

The documentary about Rooney will premiere on the Amazon Prime Video platform and will expose the player’s life from childhood to the beginning of his managerial career.

BBC Sport shares some key moments from the documentary.

Teen fights and drinks

Rooney admits in one scene that he “wasn’t the nicest guy” as a teenager. He openly talks about how he got involved in a lot of violence.

“We used to go to Southport and fight a lot,” he says at one point, adding, “I came back with my eye sewn up. I had some years”.

Rooney also describes going to concerts as a teenager and getting into trouble.

“I remember having my jaw broken in Manchester. I had some years”.

PA Mean

In one scene, Rooney describes a embarrassing incident that occurred while at Everton’s football academy.

“There was a day when I was crossing the street with a bottle of cider. My trainer, Colin Harvey, stopped to let me cross. The next day, he stopped me at training and said: ‘Listen, you have the most talent I’ve ever seen in someone your age, don’t waste it.’”

Their fantastic debut

At 16 years, Rooney was already an unstoppable talent with the body of a man. In the documentary, he talks about what it was like to know that he was the best player in his formation.

The 18 October 2002 was presented to the rest of the world.

It was five days before his birthday number 17 Y Everton was playing against Arsenal. At that time he had a streak of 30 matches without losing. His team included names like Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, David Seaman and Sol Campbell.

Rooney remembers the shock of how huge they all were. However, the teenager wanted to make a mark on the game.

“That was my last match having 15 years. I was tormenting myself thinking: ‘I want to score as a young man of 15 years’”, reveals Rooney.

After coming off the bench, he says he had a thought: “If I get the chance, I’ll shoot from anywhere. place”.

At the last minute, Rooney saw the opportunity open up in front of him. to the. He fired a shot from outside the box into the corner and sent Goodison Park into a frenzy.

League leaders Arsenal lost their unbeaten record and narrator Clive Tyldesley said the line that became legend: “Remember the name, Wayne Rooney!”.

To be the best in the world at 13

Rooney was England’s golden boy at the European Championship 2004 in Portugal, before a broken foot ended with their participation, together with that of England, in the quarterfinals.

With only 18 years, in the opening match, he terrified France, complete with Henry, Zinedine Zidane and Lilian Thuram.

“His central defenders they were afraid or from getting close to me,” he says. “They could physically see that I could handle myself against them”.

At one point, he hit Thuram, one of the best defenders in the world of then, with a foul that could have earned him a red card.

“I just hit him right in the jaw, and I looked at him as if to say: ‘Now you know who I am.’ ”.

Your wife agrees that alcohol has played a negative role in their lives. He says that it’s not good that Rooney is “unsupervised”.

However, he also explains how the two of them have sat down and dealt with all their problems together.

“I know people say, ‘Are you just together to support the family unit?’ There’s part of that, but we also still love each other. Hopefully, he has learned and doesn’t get into those horrible situations again.”

Speaking to the BBC about the importance of their relationship, Rooney added: “We have a good relationship. Obviously, we are also friends. There is a good balance in the relationship, especially how we are now as parents with four children.”

“There could have been times when Colleen would have left. But we love each other.”

When she was asked about the way she drinks from her now, Rooney replied: “She’s fine, I really control it. I had to do it”.

“As I said, I was never an alcoholic, I was more of a compulsive drinker. If I had two days off, I would literally drink for two days and then use eye drops, gum and mouthwash to go to work and run around a field and train. I wasn’t giving the best version of myself to my club at times.”

“I have talked to people. They helped me. If you have to get the feelings out, I’ve done it. Because you retain them and then they accumulate.”