The new England captain might want to avoid the red-tops ahead of tonight’s friendly with Norway, especially if he’s in any way sensitive about his weight.
International friendlies at this time of year can be a bit of a hard sell; fans tend to be excited about the return of club football and don’t necessarily want an international break so early in the new season so it can be hard to create a bit of a buzz about it.
The Daily Star managed to do it ahead of tonight’s friendly clash between England and Norway by jumping on some mildly offensive but hardly shocking comments made by Norway defender Vegard Forren about Wayne Rooney to create a headline that is in no way flattering to the Manchester United striker. Yikes.
Wednesday’s Daily Star back page – “Captain Fatso” #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/9X5avQvKGR
— Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) September 2, 2014
For the record, Forren said that “Rooney looks a bit chubby” amidst some largely complimentary comments about the quality of the England players, but that ‘Captain Fatso’ tag is something that, unfortunately for Rooney, might just stick. Incidentally, the reference to Paul Parker is in relation to a damning column the former United defender wrote about Rooney’s role at the Red Devils after the arrival of some high-profile signings, which you can read here.
We’ll sure he’ll attempt to prove Forren, Parker and The Star wrong by giving it belly against Norway in Wembley tonight.
