Wayne Rooney Wants FA Cup For Manchester United

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Wayne Rooney celebrating his goal in the Manchester derby, backing up his pre-match jibes in style.

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Since joining Manchester United from Everton in 2004, Wayne Rooney has won all there is to be won in English club football - well, almost.

Despite winning the Premier League (twice), Champions League, League Cup, Community Shield and FIFA Club World Cup, the England forward will not be satisfied until he adds an FA Cup triumph to his honours.

"The FA Cup is the only trophy I haven’t won yet and I am absolutely desperate to get my hands on it," Rooney said in the News of the World. 

"I’ve lost two finals with United and that frustrates me — I want to put right. What made those defeats even harder to take was that we could have won both times but Arsenal and Chelsea got lucky on the day."

While once the FA Cup regarded was regarded with similar prestige as the league title, nowadays it sits well down the pecking order in most clubs' priorities.

But as a born and bred Evertonian who grew up in an era of decline at Goodison Park, Rooney places more importance in the cup than perhaps the average Red Devil does.

"A lot of people tend to regard the Premier League and the Champions League as the only trophies that matter, but to me the FA Cup is magical," the 23-year-old said. 

"One of the greatest memories from my childhood was travelling to Wembley to see Everton beat United 1-0 in 1995. I was nine and I can still remember every single minute of it and the wonderful feeling when the final whistle went. Ever since that day I have wanted to climb the steps to the Royal Box to lift the cup. It has always been a major trophy and it always will be.

"Growing up as an Everton fan, we never really had a realistic chance of winning the league, so the FA Cup was always the one we looked forward to."

Sir Alex Ferguson's men completed an amazing brace last season when they were crowned as champions of both England and Europe - but Rooney is still smarting from their failure in the cup.

"Even when United won the Premier League and Champions League last season, there was a massive disappointment around the club when we lost to Portsmouth in the cup," he said. 

"We all wanted to win it — and it is the same this season. I was man-of-the-match when we lost the final to Arsenal on penalties and the award meant absolutely nothing to me.

"I’ve still got the trophy I received that day but every time I look at it the bad memories come flooding back. It’s a little reminder of how much it hurts when you lose."

United kick off their FA Cup campaign today against Championship strugglers Southampton at St Mary's.

Mike Maguire, Goal.com