LONDON: Everton striker Wayne Rooney has been charged with drink-driving, British police said Friday.
Rooney, England’s all-time record goalscorer and former captain, was stopped by police near his home in Cheshire, northwest England, in the early hours of Friday.
“The man was arrested shortly after 2.00am (0100GMT) today, Friday 1 September, after officers stopped a black VW Beetle,” said a police statement.
Police said 31-year-old Rooney “has since been charged with driving whilst over the prescribed limit.”
Rooney had been released on bail and is due to appear at Stockport Magistrates’ Court on September 18.
He was seen posing in a selfie with cricketer Jack McIver in a bar in the upmarket town of Alderley Edge, near his home, on Thursday, August 31.
McIver shared the photo of the pair in the Bubble Room on Instagram at around 10:00pm (2100 GMT) that day with the comment: “International Break #legend.”
Rooney announced his retirement from international football last week, having scored 53 goals in 119 appearances.
He made his decision despite England manager Gareth Southgate offering to recall him for the World Cup qualifier against Malta on Friday.
Rooney re-joined boyhood club Everton in the pre-season after a successful 13-year spell at Premier League rivals Manchester United.
He has seemed rejuventated by the move to the Liverpool-based club and scored in his first two Premier League games of the 2017/18 campaign, a 1-0 win over Stoke City and a 1-1 draw with Manchester City.
Wayne Rooney charged with drink-driving
Wayne Rooney charged with drink-driving
Alonso fears more pain in China with struggling Aston Martin
- Fernando Alonso said Thursday he expects another difficult weekend wrestling with his new Aston Martin at the Chinese Grand Prix after failing to finish the season-opener in Australia
SHANGHAI: Fernando Alonso said Thursday he expects another difficult weekend wrestling with his new Aston Martin at the Chinese Grand Prix after failing to finish the season-opener in Australia.
Silverstone-based Aston Martin endured a horror start after serious issues with their Honda power unit and a lack of spare parts.
Two-time world champion Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll had to endure extreme vibration in the chassis caused by the power unit, which was feared could cause the drivers permanent nerve damage.
“The situation unfortunately didn’t change within four or five days since Melbourne, so it will be a difficult weekend,” Alonso told reporters at the Shanghai International Circuit.
“We’ll limit the laps in one or two sessions as we are short on parts. We need laps, to find the window on the chassis side.
“I’ll be happy if we leave China with a more or less normal practice, more or less normal qualifying.”
The Spaniard could not put a timeframe on when improvements might come.
“What can I do within the team? Work harder, help Honda as much as I can,” said Alonso.
“We can allocate resources to help Honda with the power unit. We are one team, it is a bumpy start that I hope won’t last too long.
“We are pushing, we have very talented people in the team, so I hope within a couple of grands prix, we can have a normal weekend.
“To be competitive will take more time. Once we fix the reliability, we will be behind on power and things.”
The 44-year-old veteran has been in Formula One for more than two decades and has driven vastly different iterations of cars from the old V10 petrol engines through to the current complex hybrid configuration.
Despite the issues he said was embracing the challenge of the new cars enthusiastically in what could be his final season on the grid.
His Aston Martin contract expires at the end of 2026.
“Do we enjoy driving these cars? Yes, because we love racing,” Alonso said.
“I do four or five 24-hour races because I love racing and I love driving. So if you jump into an F1 car, you enjoy going fast.
“But it is a challenge, a different challenge.
“I was super lucky to race in (the last) era and I feel lucky to race in both.”
