Rooney looked on target to clinch the prize when he scored four goals in England's first three games at the tournament.

But all that went out the window when he broke his foot after only 23 minutes of the quarter-final against Portugal - and England lost the match on penalties.

Since then two players have emerged as real rivals to take the Golden Shoe - and both of them will be familiar to Rooney.

Ruud van Nistelrooy is joint second-top scorer at Euro 2004 alongside Rooney with four goals and, of course, is a legend at Manchester United.

And Liverpool's Milan Baros tops the list with five goals - after scoring twice in the Czech Republic side's quarter-final victory over Denmark.

"It's gone really well for me and who knows what can happen now," said Baros.

"We have been careful to take it one game at a time and we won't start talking about the final yet because Greece will be tough opponents in the semi-final on Thursday.

"But for me I just want to carry on scoring goals. To finish as top scorer in the tournament would be very nice!"

Baros currently holds the advantage, but Holland coach Dick Advocaat believes van Nistelrooy is still the star of the show.

And Ruud has a chance to catch up with his rival when Holland take on Portugal in the first semi-final in Lisbon on Wednesday.

Advocaat said: "Ruud has been fantastic. I think he was already the best striker in the world before this tournament. But the way he's playing for the team now is incredible.

"He's scoring goals even though we've asked to play in a totally different way to the way he plays at Manchester United.

"But he's desperate to get the result he wants for himself and for the team. He wants to get to the final and probably, the way he is playing, to be the top scorer in the tournament."

If van Nistelrooy can do that, Holland will almost certainly lift the trophy.

But Portugal will fight them to the very end - as England know. And even though Italy are already out, the biggest challenge for the Golden Shoe could come from Milan.