Rooney's ad it

The ever-photogenic Wayne Rooney's really gone and done it now.

Some people think of the Scouser as English football's messiah, and it's a truly messianic, if aggressive, pose young Wayne's striking on the front of the Sun and the Daily Star.

And in the Sun's centrespread, too. The fired-up Man U striker is stripped to the waist, arms outstretched, with face and torso daubed, blood-like, in St George's Cross red and white paint, for a new Nike ad.

Controversy is the watchword for this one. So the ad men behind the campaign will be happy, for sure, with the red-tops' knee-jerk blast of publicity.

"Bloody Hello Roo," booms the Star on the matter of "the most shocking World Cup picture" - ever.

The ad is in place for all to see on a vast billboard on the A4 in west London on the approach to Heathrow Airport.

It's hailed as a "rallying cry from Wayne the warrior" by the Star - the paper exercising its usual restraint, as you can see.