Having matched Bobby Charlton’s England goal-scoring record against San Marino, Wayne Rooney plans to set a new mark in front of a home crowd against Switzerland on Tuesday night.
Priorities
Rooney’s penalty in Saturday’s 6-0 win in San Marino, which secured a place at Euro 2016, was his 49th international goal. It left him needing one more to become the first England player to reach a half-century. Substituted midway through the second half in Serravalle, Rooney says it will be more fitting if he breaks the record at Wembley but admits it is trophies, rather than personal milestones, that fire him.
Home pride
“It would be nice to do it at Wembley,” the Manchester United striker said. “It would be nice to do it and move on from that and concentrate on the team again. That’s the most important thing. If it happens tomorrow, then great. If not, it’s not something that will concern me. I feel I’ve still got quite a lot of games left to play for England. If I was sat here saying ‘I just want to get 50 goals’, then I’d be lying. I’d be disappointed if I ended my England career on 50 goals. I want to kick on and try to score as many goals as I can. I’ve still got plenty of games to do that.”
Veteran
Euro 2016 will be Rooney’s sixth major championship with England, and he says he knows that time is running out for him to atone for a litany of tournament disappointments by getting his hands on an international trophy. The England captain will be 30 when England travel to France, but he fully intends to play on until the 2018 World Cup in Russia and potentially beyond. “I still feel fine,” he said. “I think I can go to Russia and then see how I feel, but that’s not something I’m thinking about.”
Coach on his side
Manager Roy Hodgson says he hopes Rooney reaches the landmark. “It’s going to happen. For Wayne’s sake, it’s no doubt the sooner the better,” he said. “I can afford to be patient, but I’d like it to happen tomorrow night, because then we could have a few press conferences where Wayne’s able to talk about other things, other than the pressure he feels under to score the 50th goal.” He also lauded Rooney’s selflessness and called his goal-scoring record “quite incredible”.
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