Teenage football players in Payerne, a small town in the canton of Vaud, were surprised on Monday to receive coaching advice in person from England and Manchester United star Wayne Rooney.

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Rooney, 27, made the unexpected Swiss appearance as a belated punishment from UEFA after he was sent off during a match between England and Montenegro in October 2011 for viciously kicking a Montenegro defender.

He was banned by the European football authority for playing three international matches, a penalty that was subsequently reduced to two.

The reduction came after Rooney attended an appeal at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, also in the canton of Vaud.

As part of the deal, Rooney agreed to participate in a UEFA-sponsored community project.

Which is why he ended up flying to Switzerland from England on Sunday and heading up to Payerne, a community northeast of Lausanne and west of Fribourg.

His appearance was organized in conjunction with the Swiss football association.
 
Rooney made his visit to Payerne in good humour, according to a report from the 20 Minutes newspaper.

The newspaper cites witnesses saying the forward, whose reported salary this year is £15 million, rewarded a young player who succeeded in hitting the crossbar with a kick of the ball in a training exercise.

Rooney offered the player a pair of boots, something that 20 Minutes described as “an act of class . . . one more for the Mancunian goalscorer”.