Euro 2012: Wayne Rooney owes England a point or three as they search for a place in the quarter finals

For England there are two Euro 2012s. The second with Wayne Rooney, and the first without.

Television cameras can stop obsessing about him in the stands now and start filming him on the pitch, where he returns not as the naughty boy of English football but its “ace in the hole”, to use Roy Hodgson’s phrase.

The threat of rioting in the dressing room will be averted when Hodgson recalls Rooney from his unnecessary disciplinary exile.

Hodgson said last week his players would revolt if their star was made to wait for his place and Rooney now bears a responsibility to repay that support.

Forgiveness and faith stem from the knowledge that he is England's most potent player. The country’s dependence on him points to the relative shallowness of the talent pool Hodgson has had to draw from.

Even their training ground is called the Dry Ponds Stadium. Yet despite the early gloom Hodgson’s men have fought their way to a draw with France and a victory over Sweden. The hard work leading up to this second game in Donetsk has been done by others.

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