Thursday, September 2, 2010

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney is aiming for his best-ever haul of goals in a season after scoring a hat-trick against Portsmouth.

Rooney’s third treble for the club since he joined from Everton in 2004 has set the England man, already on ten goals for the season, well on his way to smashing his previous best of 23 in all competitions in 2006-07. And with the Cristiano Ronaldo no longer at Old Trafford after moving to Real Madrid earlier this year, Rooney is relishing the chance to score more goals - especially from the spot.

“Taking penalties, my tally should be a lot higher,” said the 24-year-old. “It’s a great feeling to score a hat-trick, an amazing feeling.”

It was Rooney’s first treble since October 2006, when United tore Bolton apart, and the third of his career.

The first came against Turkish club Fenerbahce in 2004 on the striker’s United debut.

Rooney, who captained England for the first time in this month’s 1-0 defeat by Brazil, has 25 goals from 57 appearances for his country.

Four players from European champions Barcelona have made the ten-man shortlist for this year’s Ballon d’Or, the European Footballer of the Year award.

The ten, whittled down from an initial 30 voted for by journalists, are dominated by players from the Catalan giants, with Lionel Messi the favourite to walk off with the award.

Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Spaniards Andres Iniesta and Xavi are the other three players from the Nou Camp.

Real Madrid player Cristiano Ronaldo, former Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney and former Barcelona player Samuel Eto’o are also among the finalists.

The winner will be unveiled on December 1.