Sunday 12 June 2016 12:09, UK
After contributing at both ends of the pitch, Wayne Rooney looked at home in the England midfield and his withdrawal appeared to cost England in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Russia, writes Pete Hall.
Roy Hodgson plumped for an attack-minded formation in the stunning surroundings of the Stade Velodrome on Saturday night - and right at the heart of the system was the country's all-time top goalscorer, converted into an intelligent and hard-working midfield metronome.
Much had been said about Manchester United and England's use of a player who has played his life as a striker in a deeper role, but Rooney showed awareness and know-how of the position on the newly-laid pitch in the south of France.
And after taking the lead through Eric Dier, Hodgson was forced to answer questions over whether England's failure to close the game out could be linked to his decision to replace his skipper with Jack Wilshere with 12 minutes to go.
"I thought [Rooney] had a good game, but he was tiring," Hodgson explained in his post-match press conference.
"It was quite a humid atmosphere, which saps players' strength. We thought with the control we had in the game and Jack Wilshere on the bench we had the luxury of taking Rooney off the field and Jack would do a similar job.
"Always afterwards you can look and think 'could we have used more subs' and done a bit more? Who knows? We didn't honestly believe we were in great difficulties in that period of time. We thought we would see the game out at 1-0."
The statistics support Hodgson's assertion that Rooney played well. He had more shots on target than any other England player and he played 30 accurate forward passes, more than any other player on the pitch, despite missing the final minutes.
Rooney made the most passes of any player in the first half, and finished the opening period with the highest pass completion rate to boot.
Furthermore, only Adam Lallana and Dele Alli covered more ground than the 30-year-old's 5.65 km in the opening 45 minutes.
It was that selflessness and work ethic that stood Rooney apart. Dier was named Man of the Match by UEFA and was excellent as an anchor in front of the back four, but Rooney was more than willing to get back and help out his team-mates in defence.
His reading of the game was never more apparent than when Russia striker Artem Dzyuba fizzed the ball into the danger area, only for Rooney to use all his experience as a striker to be in the right place to clear the danger.
The old striker instincts didn't desert him down the other end too, as he arrived on the edge of the box to tee himself up for a volley at goal, which was well saved by Igor Akinfeev.
After the break, England dropped their level of intensity as the warm evening seemed to be taking its toll, with fans sensing it could be another night of frustration.
The Russians did look more of a threat, but Rooney again was on hand to make a timely clearance inside England's penalty area.
However, as fans vociferously demanded Hodgson make changes - perhaps expecting the increasingly ineffective Raheem Sterling or Lallana to be withdrawn - Dier stepped up to score what looked likely to be the winning goal.
But such was Hodgson's confidence that the result was in the bag, he took the surprising step of withdrawing his captain.
Without Rooney to rally the troops, Russia netted a late, soft equaliser to spark scenes of mass frustration among the England fans.
There are several questions for Hodgson to answer once the dust has settled on the Mediterranean coast, and taking off your most steady and reliable head may be top of the list.
Rooney's former Manchester United team-mate Rio Ferdinand led the inquisition, asking on Twitter: "We had that won... got to see it through to the final whistle. Rooney taken off... experience needed to see games out."
England have plenty of time to recover in this expanded competition, and after a showing of real composure and assurance on a night that ultimately ended in disappointment, Rooney's ability to lead from the heart of midfield could well be pivotal to England's chances of Gallic glory.
