It would be fair to say that Wayne Rooney has often struggled to produce the goods while on England duty at major international tournaments.

At the 2006 World Cup, the Manchester United striker was red carded for stamping on his club teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, while four years later he publicly criticised his own supporters following an uninspiring 0-0 draw with minnows Algeria.

He arrived at Euro 2012 suspended as punishment for kicking out during a qualifier against Montenegro and while he found the net upon his return to action against co-hosts Ukraine, his lack of match fitness shone through.

Then, rewind 12 months to Brazil, where despite finally scoring a World Cup goal at the third time of asking, Rooney was played out of position by head coach Roy Hodgson for much of England's campaign, which lasted just the three group matches.

Yet, this was all a far cry from the exploits of an 18-year-old Rooney, who was dropping major hints that he was going to dominate tournament football for years to come as he took Euro 2004 in Portugal by storm.

The Three Lions may have lost their opening group encounter to France in dramatic circumstances, yet Rooney's fearless and bullish approach not only won him a penalty, but also plenty of admirers. That was followed by a brace against Switzerland as Sven-Goran Eriksson's men claimed their first victory.

It meant that 11 years ago today, England faced Croatia at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon in what was a winner takes all fixture. Thankfully for the English, they had one of the best teenage footballers in the world among their ranks.

Somewhat against the script, the Croatians actually broke the deadlock when, following a goalmouth scramble, Niko Kovac reacted quickest to bundle the ball beyond a helpless David James in just the fifth minute.

Enter Rooney, who just as he had done against the Swiss four days earlier, almost single-handedly put his nation into a commanding position.

Paul Scholes had not scored for England since a World Cup qualifying encounter away in Greece three years earlier, but his barren spell ended in the 40th minute, thanks in part to Rooney.

Michael Owen saw his shot blocked by Tomislav Butina, but the ball looped up kindly for England's young forward to head into the path of Scholes, who flicked the ball in from close range. It was the United midfielder's 14th and ultimately final international goal.

Then, in the first minute of first-half stoppage time, Scholes and Rooney reversed roles as the former picked out the latter with a square pass 20 yards from goal. Rooney's effort was crisp and proved to be too powerful for Butina to keep out.

England's number nine would go on to haunt Butina again with 68 minutes played thanks to his fourth goal of the tournament. Having exchanged passes with striker partner Owen, Rooney sped away from the Croatian defence, before displaying good composure to send the stricken keeper the wrong way.

But, defending crosses had been England's Achilles heel for some time, so it was little surprise that the Eastern Europeans found a route back into the contest in 73rd minute through an unchallenged header by centre-back Igor Tudor.

Rooney had already been replaced by that point, having been substituted in favour of the sprightly Darius Vassell and the Aston Villa man would play a big role in the goal that settled any nerves that may have crept into the England psyche.

There was 11 minutes remaining when he broke into Croatian territory, before picking out skipper David Beckham on the right wing. He in turn rolled the ball to Frank Lampard, who wove his way to the edge of the area before drilling a low shot into the bottom corner of the net to seal England's progress into the last eight.

After the final whistle, Eriksson was full of praise for Rooney, whom he compared to one of the best footballers that has ever played the game.

"I don't remember anyone making such an impact on a tournament since Pele in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden," said the England head coach.

"It is not just about the goals that he scores - he is a complete footballer. He drops back and defends, he has vision and he understands the game. What is there to say about him that hasn't already been said?"

As for Rooney himself, he was rather modest, saying: "The team did very well today and I'm lucky enough to get two goals. We just go out there and try to do our job the best we can."

His tournament would be cruelly ended next time out in the quarter-finals against the hosting Portuguese courtesy of a broken foot suffered early on in the tie. England battled on without him through extra-time, but once again they found themselves victims of the penalty shootout curse.

England: James; G Neville, Terry, Campbell, Cole; Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard (P Neville), Scholes (King); Rooney (Vassell), Owen

Croatia: Butina; Simic (Srna), Tudor, R Kovac (Mornar), Simunic; Roso, N Kovac, Zivkovic, Rapaic (Olic); Prso, Sokota