Rooney came on, he swore, he conquered – now for the USA

In just 45 minutes against the Platinum Stars, Wayne Rooney showed the full range of his character.

In doing so he gave people looking to bet on what he will do first against the USA plenty of things to think about.

Rooney’s initial action in the game was to come on as a substitute at half-time, and instantly England appeared more threatening – in more ways than one.

Within ten minutes the Manchester United man had managed to get booked for dissent after swearing at referee Jeff Selogilwe.

Then, eight minutes later, he set up Joe Cole for England’s second, and finally, with nine minutes to go, he grabbed a goal himself, neatly volleying in James Milner’s cross.

Come June 12th the question on many bettors lips will be: which will he do first against the USA?

The image of a Rooney scowl has unsurprisingly seen the media remind people of the player’s sending off against Portugal four years ago, but his temperament has improved considerably since then.

Last season Rooney picked up just eight bookings in 38 games for United and wasn’t carded once during World Cup qualification. So, despite the hype, Rooney to receive a card, at 5/1, looks an outsider.

Rooney is a more prolific assister for his country than his club, setting up five goals in nine qualification games for England, but only six all season for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side. That’s a 15/2 shot to occur first against the USA.

Many will be tempted by the 3/1 price on Rooney to score before anything else. He bagged 33 goals for his club last season and had a goal a game ratio during World Cup qualification.

He is an equal 3/1 price to be substituted first – a possibility should the game be wrapped up and Fabio Capello want to protect his star man.

Think Rooney won’t do much in England’s first match? He’s 11/8 to go the whole 90 minutes without incident.