Some goals decide a match, some decide a trophy, but a rare few announce a superstar on the scene, quite like Wayne Rooney's strike in 2002.

Having already caught the eye by becoming a feature in Everton's first team at just 16, Rooney's strike against Arsenal stands as one of English football's most incredible moments.

Facing Arsène Wenger's prime, seemingly invincible Arsenal side, Rooney's long-range strike sailed past David Seaman to hand the Premier League one of the most famous pieces of commentary.

More than two decades on the strike, and the five words that accompanied them, remain woven into English football folklore.

The Background

In the autumn of 2002, Rooney was Everton's worst-kept secret. The Croxteth-born teenager had torn through the club's academy and made his senior debut on the opening day of the 2002/03 season.

An unfazed 16-year-old, home-grown academy talent burst onto the scene with a level of fearlessness that is rare across football history in its entirety. This was a boy competing and bullying men; one of his most famous quotes was after joining up with the Everton first-team squad for the first time as a teenager, where he described the first team standard as bad — but in a more colorful way.

Unburdened by pressure, David Moyes knew he was onto a winner. However, his minutes were still managed carefully, which, as it always does with a stunning young talent, drew a considerable degree of impatience from fans and media who were desperate to see more.

The stage for his breakout moment could hardly have been bigger. Wenger's Arsenal were unbeaten in 30 Premier League matches when they arrived at Goodison Park on October 19, 2002, as the reigning champions and took the lead early through Freddie Ljungberg before Tomasz Radzinski leveled for a spirited Everton. The game was seemingly drifting towards a draw, before Moyes turned to his teenage substitute.

Wayne Rooney's First Premier League Goal

• Date: October 19, 2002
• Game: Everton vs Arsenal (Premier League)
• Final Score: 2-1
• Everton Scorers: Tomasz Radzinski (22'), Wayne Rooney (89')
• Arsenal Scorer: Freddie Ljungberg (8')

Rooney entered the fray in the final knockings of the game. Having collected a long ball from Thomas Gravesen near the halfway line, he turned away from his marker and advanced as the backpedaling Arsenal defence invited him on.

From 25 yards, with Seaman set, he curled a rising shot that kissed the underside of the crossbar and dropped over the line as Goodison erupted. Up in the gantry, ITV commentator Clive Tyldesley's line became instantly recognisable.

It was an instant, spontaneous and perfect line that perfectly encapsulated the moment, and he later admitted the phrase was not entirely his own; someone had tipped him off before the game to remember the name, and with 'Rooney' emblazoned across the celebrating teenager's back, he simply seized the moment.

Rooney made history with the goal, becoming the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history at the time at 16 years and 359 days, five days shy of his 17th birthday. It also simultaneously ended Arsenal's record-equalling unbeaten run in the most dramatic fashion imaginable.

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The Legacy

Fittingly, Rooney has often called it his favourite goal at Goodison Park. Yet the immediate aftermath was less a coronation than a slow burn. That strike was one of just six league goals he managed in 33 appearances in the 2002/03 season as it took time for Moyes to fully integrate him into senior football.

An entirely understandable concept; incredible talents are often overworked at a young age and, physically, are forced to retire earlier than others. Rooney retired at 35, ensuring he had a long and distinguished career at the top level. Funnily enough, another wonder kid eclipsed his record just weeks later as James Milner became the next young sensation.

Yet Rooney's career trajectory was set on that October day. His coming-of-age moment arrived at Euro 2000, where four goals in four games earned him a Team of the Tournament place, which convinced Manchester United to cough up £27million for an 18-year-old before the end of the summer. He would go onto become the record scorer for both United and England, amassing five league titles, a Champions League and a global sporting star.

That story came full circle in 2017, as he found himself back at Goodison playing for his boyhood club when Arsenal, and Wenger, came to town. He scored his 200th Premier League goal in a defeat that day, as the memories all came flooding back.

Even now, some 20 years later, the goal represents the beginning of a wonderful football journey that defined a generation — but it served as the ultimate origin story. Take a fearless kid at his boyhood club, one incredible strike, a giant-killing moment and a commentator whose words that baptized him at the top level. Few have a grand arrival narrated as perfectly as that. Everyone did, in the end, remember the name.