"My family were in the stands crying" - Wayne Rooney reveals the hardest game he played in

Wayne Rooney has revealed that a game against boyhood team Everton was the hardest in his career, and left family members in tears.

Rooney had an incredible career of many huge ups, but equally a number of massive lows as well, as he mixed success with some crushing failure.

Whether it was the hat-trick on his Manchester United debut, famous winner against Arsenal as a teenager, five Premier League titles or the Champions League, there would be plenty of highlights for him to pick from his career.

But there was also his failures, especially when it came to playing for England, during the period known as the Golden Generation,' that he could pick for his lowest time.

However, despite crushing World Cup and Euro eliminations to the likes of Portugal, Germany and Italy, and even Euro 2008 when they didn't even qualify, the 37-year-old 'hardest game' was actually a win.

Rooney revealed that a victory for United, in an FA Cup semi final, left his family crying in the stands, because it came over Everton.

The game came at Wembley in 2016, with Anthony Martial scoring an injury time winner, after a Chris Smalling own goal had cancelled out Marouane Fellaini's opener, and Rooney clearly had mixed emotions.

"The hardest game I ever played in was the semi-final," the two time former Everton player told Toffee TV.

"I remember [Antony] Martial scored late on and they [the team] were all celebrating and I remember I didn't celebrate. My family were in the stands crying.

"Honestly it was horrible. To win the game and go to an FA Cup final you should be buzzing. I remember the feeling afterwards. I just didn't enjoy it. I remember my cousins crying because Everton hadn't gone through. It was a weird feeling."

Rooney ahead of the game. Image: Alamy

It was a cruel defeat for Everton, who had plenty of good moments in the game, and even saw David de Gea save a penalty from Romelu Lukaku.

United went through to the final where they met Crystal Palace, which would have also been the Toffees' best chance of winning silverware since beating United in the 1995 FA Cup final.

The final became famous for Alan Pardew's dance, when Jamie Puncheon gave the Eagles a 76th minute lead, and making it look like they were on the way to win.

However, Juan Mata equalised just five minutes later, and Jesse Lingard grabbed the winner in extra time, making Pardew's dance somehow seem even more ridiculous.

Rooney lifts the FA Cup after knockout Everton out of the competition. Image: Alamy

Rooney, now the DC United manager, certainly has had harder 'opposition' to come up against than Everton in recent times.

The 37-year-old was recently caught up in the whole saga around Cristiano Ronaldo's departure from Old Trafford, with it being suggested that the former England captain was 'jealous' of his ex teammate.

From his part, United's all time top goalscorer has been pretty balanced in his views, even saying it was a shame Ronaldo had left the club.