However, Rooney, making his 116th appearance in a Three Lions shirt, played largely in a midfield role, deeper than many were expecting with suggestions prior to kick off that he would be deployed in a No.10 position.
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“We have had a really good camp, good training sessions and we are delighted to reward him with a win”.
“A father of a son in a wheelchair came to the hotel in the morning and asked if it was okay to have a picture with his son”, he said, per Jeremy Cross of the Daily Star. When we finished he said: ‘Let me give you a lucky coin.’ Here it is. “I can only hope we get stronger”. “To be going into it from a real position of strength, maybe that happens in the future, maybe it doesn’t?” It’s got us a last-minute victor. “I wonder how far it will take us”.
But there was just enough left in the tank for England to snatch a late win and move on from their Euro 2016 humiliation at the hands of Iceland as Lallana, who had earlier hit the post before a Theo Walcott strike was ruled out for offside, struck his first worldwide goal.
Gareth Southgate admits he was not ready to replace Roy Hodgson following Euro 2016, though the England Under-21 manager is open to taking charge of the senior team in the future.
“That goal has been a long time coming”, he told ITV. “To score that goal was a huge relief for me”.
“We probably should have finished the game off by the time we scored the victor and that is one of the things we are going to have to improve on: being that bit more ruthless”.
Manchester United’s English striker Wayne Rooney plays during the FA Community Shield football match between Manchester United and Leicester City at Wembley Stadium in London on August 7, 2016. He was brilliant and controlled midfield.
“Too much is getting made of about it”, said Rooney, who surpassed David Beckham’s outfield record of 115 England caps against Slovakia.
“But we have to be fearless and we have to get balls with quality forward and get players in good positions and hit them as quick as we can”.
“I’m captain of the team and I feel I can do a very good job in the role I played tonight”, Rooney told Sky Sports. He’s been a goalscorer all his life and I want him to do that again, but he reads a game as he reads it.
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“But I was pleased with his performance”.
