Say what you want about the Wayne Rooney of today, but the man has had an international career that many would envy. Despite having never led England’s supposed ‘golden generation’ to any major trophies, Rooney has remained a stalwart of the national team over the years, providing consistent performances and even more consistent levels of raw passion.
The end of Rooney’s tenure as an England player is a end of an era for English football.
Rejecting the chance to be part of Gareth Southgate’s squad for next month’s World Cup qualifiers, the 31-year old Everton frontman humbly stated that “now is the time to bow out”. With his starting place in contention via the recent insurgence of younger talents like Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford, Rooney made the decision to call it quits despite still being a part of Southgate’s plans.
England’s greatest ever goalscorer, Rooney hit the back of the 53 times in 119 appearances. The latter also makes Rooney the second-highest capped player for his country behind former goalkeeper Peter Shilton’s record of 125 caps.
Captaining his country to a 3-0 win against Scotland last November proved to be Rooney’s final appearance. We’re sure that any Englishman will attest, there’s no better way to go out than by beating the Scots.
A man far less-marketable than the likes of Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo but a quality player nonetheless, we’d like to hope that Rooney is best remembered in an England for some of the absolutely cracking goals he’s scored.
Rooney’s 1st goal for England:
And his 50th:
