Berti Vogts: I asked Wayne Rooney to play for Scotland

London: Berti Vogts has revealed he once approached a teenage Wayne Rooney about playing for Scotland.

Vogts, who was in charge of Scotland from 2002 to 2004, said he learned of a family link when Rooney was a 16-year-old with Everton.

Rooney rejected Vogts’s approach and made his England debut in February 2003, aged just 17.

“I spoke to Wayne Rooney — his grandmother is Scottish,” said Vogts, speaking in Baku ahead of his Azerbaijan side’s World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland.

“The Scottish Football Association found the grandmother and I made the call. I flew from Glasgow to Everton. He was playing under David Moyes and I spoke to him — a young lad of 16. I said to him, ‘You can play for Scotland’.”

Explaining Rooney’s reaction, the German beat his chest theatrically and said: “Rooney told me, ‘I am English, I am English!’. OK, sorry. You have to speak to the player but he told me, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m English’.”

The SFA did not wish to comment on the revelation which Vogts made when asked about the issue of national eligibility and the decision facing Adnan Januzaj. He is wanted by Belgium, Serbia, Albania, Turkey and England. The winger could only represent England on residency grounds but Vogts sees no problem. “It’s a Fifa rule. We have to accept it,” he said.