Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen: How it feels to be an England prodigy

Thuram’s lack of research was to be quickly found out.

Rooney gave an all-action, no-holds barred performance that included nutmegging Zinedine Zidane, winning a penalty and, in his own words, “smashing” Thuram with an elbow.

“I just couldn’t wait for the game,” Rooney remembers 20 years later. “I nutmegged Zidane and I remember texting my mate after the game, saying ‘I just megged Zizou’.

“I remember him (Thuram) doing an interview saying he didn’t know who I was and that stuck with me and I remember thinking, ‘Right, OK… Wait for this game, because if I get a chance, I’m going to smash you’.

“Around that time, I felt invincible like when you are on a fruit machine, you get the invincible level and just keep going, you can’t die. That’s what I felt like at that time.”

Owen, naturally more quiet and reserved, may not relate to Rooney’s penchant for a training-ground chip but he can recognise those feelings of invincibility.

“I can relate to his mindset,” Owen tells BBC Sport.

“When I was 18, I thought I could rule the world. I played in the World Cup, played against Argentina, wouldn’t have had a clue about the opposition, couldn’t name that team.

“I didn’t want to watch any videos (of the opposition). Just give me the ball and I’ll be fine.

“You just think that you’re the best player as soon as you cross over the line. You’ve never had any doubts or setbacks in your life.

“You get into the England team and you find that easy as well. And it just feels so normal.

“At Euro 2004, Wayne and I used to have the odd chat – I could just see myself in him, in terms of what I had done not so long ago in France.”