Carry on regardless

A young lad in his Wayne Rooney shirt on the way to Wembley for England's friendly game against Hungary.

It's England's first game since their underwhelming show at the World Cup in South Africa, and Rooney would have been (correctly, as it turned out) expecting a less than warm reception from the English fans after barbed remarks about their support during the finals.

At first, I felt for this boy when I heard the boos as Rooney's name was read out, and again when he was substituted as England trailed 1-0. Witnessing your hero debased in such a way must be pretty upsetting.

But then I remembered what football's really all about: disappointment.

I once read an essay by a bloke who supported non-league Wealdstone who insisted his kids would be better off following his unremarkable team than Manchester United "because you don't learn anything about life winning trophies."

Presuming this lad was also a fan of Rooney's current club, then, the boo-boys were actually doing him a favour. Especially seeing as England ended up winning anyway.