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It’s Rooney v The Hulk!
OGUCHI ONYEWU has been flexing his muscles ahead of his no-holds-barred clash with Wayne Rooney tomorrow.
The USA centre-half is known as one of the strongest men in football with biceps the size of water melons.
And he is ready to use his considerable bulk to keep Rooney at arm's length during England's World Cup opener in Rustenburg.
Onyewu, 28, back from a seven-month injury lay-off, spent half a season on loan at Newcastle in 2007 before joining AC Milan last year.
And during his time at St James' Park, the 6ft 4in defender became a Geordie legend for his incredible feats in the gym.
He said: "I used to bench-press 145kilos, which is 22½st, but I don't know if I could lift that now as I don't focus on my upper-body strength so much these days.
"But if people are saying I'm one of the strongest guys in football, I'll take that.
"It won't be the deciding factor against England if I'm up against Rooney but it won't hurt.
"I've played against plenty of big strong strikers and learned all about the physical English game at Newcastle.
"So if Rooney or any of the other English forwards want to start pushing me, no problem."
Onyewu was on the bench when England beat the USA 2-0 in a Wembley friendly two years ago.
But he knows all about the danger posed by Rooney and said: "What you see from him with Manchester United week in, week out is what you get.
"He's a world-class player who is always putting pressure on the defenders. He never stops working. People talk about his temperament but it's not in my game plan to wind him up.
"All I know is he's a competitive player and I respect that part of his game."
Onyewu has played just two games for AC Milan since his move from Belgian club Standard Liege last summer.
But now he is raring to go after finally recovering from the ruptured kneecap suffered during a qualifier against Costa Rica in October. And he was helped on the comeback trail by his Milan team-mate David Beckham.
He said: "I was doing my rehab in Los Angeles and David was there the first time I met him.
"Then I went back to Milan and he had joined them on loan from LA Galaxy.
"We've been in close contact since and even here in South Africa we're communicating all the time.
"He's a good guy. He was at our warm-up against Australia and told me he was happy to see me playing again."
Onyewu has not played a full game since returning from injury but is sure to start tomorrow.
And he warned: "We'll do whatever we can to get a result. Whether it's a pretty game or an ugly one, the points are all that matter.
"England are a great team but we have a good chemistry in our squad and on our day can cause problems for anyone."
