England captain Wayne Rooney has revealed he considered turning his back on soccer at the age of 14 after becoming disillusioned.

The 29-year-old is due to make his 100th international appearance in a home Euro 2016 qualifier against Slovenia on Saturday and will be presented with a commemorative cap by England great Bobby Charlton.

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But on game-eve, the Manchester United star revealed had it not been for Colin Harvey, a youth coach at former club Everton, his career might have ended before it began.

“I think for me, Colin Harvey was a massive help because, when I was about 14, I really stopped enjoying playing football.

“At that age, you just want to go and play football. And then around about that age, you start getting told what different things to do on the pitch – you’re learning the tactics of the game.

“I felt at that moment that I just wanted to go and enjoy it. I felt that it was too much and I remember going home and telling my dad that I didn’t want to go anymore.

“My dad was upset with me over it. And then I went in to see Colin Harvey and he was great for me.

“He sat me down and made me fall back in love with it. From that moment on, that’s when I said to myself, ‘This is what I want to be doing’ … I stopped going to boxing and focused solely on football. Thankfully, it was the right decision.”

Asked what he would be doing if he had not become a footballer, Rooney replied: “I’ve never thought of it. I suppose I just have to look at what my friends are doing.”

Two years later, Rooney made his Everton debut and, at 17, was awarded his first senior England cap in a 3-1 friendly defeat by Australia at Upton Park in February 2003.

Rooney was one of 11 substitutes sent on by then-manager Sven-Goran Eriksson and, in a quirk of fate, was joined by Francis Jeffers, who grew up in the same Liverpool neighbourhood and also began his career at Everton.

Rooney admits failing to make his mark at a major tournament since exploding onto the scene at Euro04, but still harbours ambitions of playing at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

“It’s something I would love to go and do again for England. You never know. The Euros (2016) could be my last one. It certainly won’t be me saying it’s my last one.

“If I get picked to go to the World Cup, I’d be more than happy to do that.”