Everton podcast: Wayne Rooney remembers ‘massive’ Arsenal goal

Wayne Rooney discussed the iconic plays of his career on the latest episode of The Wayne Rooney Show.

Of Everton’s win over Arsenal in 2002, he said: “I’ve just played Arsenal and the players I’ve watched over the last three, four years, and Henry and Sol Campbell, Seaman, Vieira.

“So before that game, being on the bench, I always remember the two teams lined up in the tunnel and the substitutes were coming out and the tunnel was really narrow. Remember just coming out and I couldn’t believe how big the Arsenal players were. They were huge. Even Henry is big.

“They were huge. So I remember coming out and I think they were 33, 32 games unbeaten. So I was on the bench and then I came in. It was 1-1. I come in with 15 minutes to go or something.

“And I had an opportunity. Thomas Gravesen just helped. It went high and… I remember Sol Campbell backed up. I took a touch and Sol Campbell backed up and I knew straight away, I turned around. I don’t know if he knew too much about me, to be honest. I’m sure he had seen clips of me and probably knew I was pretty fast.

“But I was still a good distance away. So he moved back. As soon as he moved back, I knew I was going to shoot. I hit it with the right shape. It hit the crossbar and went in. So it was still one of the best feelings I’ve ever had.

“I wanted to score when I was 16, and it was my last match, October 19.

“I always remember after the match we were in the dressing rooms and at Goodison when everyone stood up there were only wooden seats in the stadium. You could hear everything in the stands. I remember being in the dressing rooms and the whole crowd stayed and sang and my whole family was there. It was a proud moment.”

You can listen to The Wayne Rooney Show on BBC Sounds