Sheringham tells 'hot-head' Wayne to cool it or risk an early end to his career

Lucky escape: Wayne Rooney was not carded for his tackle on Oleksandr Aliiev

Simon Johnson13 April 2012

Teddy Sheringham has warned Wayne Rooney that his reckless tackling could cost him his career.

Rooney lost his cool in the 65th minute of England's 2-1 win against Ukraine when he launched into a wild challenge on Oleksandr Aliiev. The striker got the ball first but appeared to deliberately fly with both feet into the midfielder afterwards.

Referee Claus Larsen didn't book Rooney and neither manager had a problem with the tackle but Sheringham felt he was fortunate to stay on the pitch. The former England star compared Rooney's moment of madness to Paul Gascoigne's infamous challenge on Gary Charles in the 1991 FA Cup Final, which caused a serious knee injury that robbed him of his best form for good.

Sheringham said: "Wayne won the ball but the actual follow-through is terrible and on three fronts he was lucky.

"First of all he didn't injure the player badly, secondly he didn't get sent off and thirdly he could have injured himself.

"It was similar to how Gazza did his knee and he was never the same. He could end his career with a challenge like that."