Wayne Rooney has put his senior strike partner Michael Owen in the shade and emerged one of the stars of Euro 2004 by following up a confident display against France with a two-goal haul in the 3-0 win over Switzerland.

The goals made the Everton striker the youngest player ever to score in a European Championship and has ignited a frenzy of excitement about his potential back in England.

Eriksson claimed the England players were insulated from the feverish reaction, but that did not prevent him from contributing to it by describing the player as the best 18-year-old he had ever worked with.

Given that Eriksson worked with a teenage Baggio at Italian club Fiorentina, that is praise indeed.

"I've had very many young talents in the past - Rui Costa, Roberto Baggio and Paolo Souza," Eriksson said. "But Wayne Rooney is someone special."

Given his performances and potential, the Swede acknowledged that it was inevitable that Rooney would capture the imagination of the public the way he has done.

"I'm not surprised that he's 18 years old and playing football like he's been doing. Of course he must be the man of the day, not only in England but in all of Europe."

Eriksson admitted that the shy teenager was still largely an unknown quantity to him off the pitch, but he has seen enough of his emerging superstar to identify youthful insouciance as the key to his extraordinary effectiveness.

"I wouldn't say that I know him that much because he's not talking that much. But what he said after the Switzerland match was absolutely fantastic," Eriksson said.

"That's him. He's not doing a lot of talking but he has no fear.

"He's not worried if the opposition is France, Croatia or Turkey. It is like he's out on a school pitch saying 'give me the ball, I will enjoy myself."