Wayne Rooney will remain England captain going into the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign, manager Sam Allardyce confirmed on Monday.
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He would, the England captain announced, be retiring from worldwide football after the 2018 World Cup in Russian Federation – and he wanted to end his club career at Manchester United.
If Rooney plays against Slovakia in Sunday’s World Cup qualifier he will make his 116th England appearance, moving ahead of David Beckham and trailing only goalkeeper Peter Shilton.
The 30-year-old told reporters: “Realistically I won’t have many tournaments beyond Russian Federation 2018, so I’m planning to enjoy these next two years and try and help the team improve”.
“But come Russian Federation I feel that will be the time to say goodbye to global football. I came in and walked over to the gaffer to say “thank you for the opportunity” and he said “there’s no need to thank me because you’ve done it on the pitch – now work hard and see if you can do it as an worldwide player”.
FC’s Craig Burley discusses England manager Sam Allardyce’s comments saying he will play Wayne Rooney as the No. 10.
Sam Allardyce may have kept Wayne Rooney waiting but he insists it was an “easy decision” to keep him on as England captain. “So 15 years of worldwide football is a lot of years and, in my eyes, I think that would be the right time to finish”.
He added: ‘My mind is made up…
Miserable just about sums up England’s experiences over the last two years.
Though Allardyce declined to make the announcement at the start of his tenure as manager, that is not to say it was a call he was wrestling with. So I made a decision to cut my England career short to avoid that day and also so I could give my best to Newcastle.
“Since then and on holiday and back at Manchester United I have not had much to think about. Or don’t you and then suffer the consequences of not getting to the quarter-final and failure?” Once I reach one target, I always search for another and I went from non-league to Reading.
I said straight after the Euros that I wanted to still be involved. We’ve seen a lot of teams overachieve with him as manager.
“I don’t say this in the belief that he is no longer good enough for England – he is”. Rooney said, “I said before the Euros I enjoyed playing in this team, and that’s the case still”.
Antonio, who was playing in the Isthmian League in 2008-09, scored his second Premier League goal of the season in a 3-1 loss to Manchester City on Sunday and he said maintaining belief has been key in his career.
Rooney received the symbolically prestigious honor of captaining England on a permanent basis in 2014, taking over the role from Steven Gerrard. But Rooney, who won his first cap under Sven-Goran Eriksson in February 2003, believes he still has something to offer, playing in the No10 role and as captain.
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“It is time for him to acknowledge that he simply can’t keep doing both – and I mean that for his own good”. “I’m just trying to get them done while I’m still playing really”.
