After naming his squad for England’s opening 2018 World Cup qualifier in Slovakia on Sunday, Allardyce revealed he had made an unsuccessful attempt to call up Sevilla’s French midfielder Steven N’Zonzi.
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The 30-year-old striker has been retained as the Three Lions skipper by new boss Sam Allardyce, but has revealed he intends to leave the worldwide scene for good in two years’ time.
England skipper will retire from global duty after Russian Federation 2018.
“Realistically, I know myself that Russian Federation will be my last opportunity to do anything with England”, Rooney told a press conference at St George’s Park in Burton, central England. “He told me to now see if I could do it as an worldwide player”. I think he (Rooney) has enjoyed the responsibility.
Rooney, fondly referred to as “White Pele”, is the highest goal-scorer for England. I’m not old – I’m 30 years of age – and come Russian Federation, I feel that would be the right time for me to say goodbye to global football. “Russian Federation will be my last tournament”.
“It’s not just been with some of the players now, it’s been the case with a lot of experienced players who have played at the top level for many years”, he said.
“I don’t think about it before”.
Rooney said: “It will be a proud moment”. I’m still feeling capable of doing a good job for England. It’s a huge honour for me. “We’ve walked around saying, ‘What can we do to make more of an impact on the players?'”
“I’m looking forward to getting back on the pitch”.
“It’s important [to be captain] but whether I was captain or not I was going to be available for selection and I would be the same around the training camp”.
“I’d like to (go into management) of course”.
Allardyce has already made his mark, calling up uncapped West Ham winger Michail Antonio and attempting to lighten the mood by inviting comedians Paddy McGuinness and Bradley Walsh to host a quiz night for players. “I’m ready to play whether it’s midfield, number 10 or striker”.
“If he gets the best out of the players we’ve got then he’ll do well because the ability is there”. You can’t just forget it (Euro 2016) but it’s a new era for us. Rooney’s announcement has laid the ground for that decision at some point between now and the end.
“Maybe sometimes we have to dig one out here and there – let’s be resilient and tough”. He added, “He’ll want to find out why we keep tripping up”. I said at the time I knew there were going to be questions whether I should continue or not and I said at the time if I was selected, I was available to play. That’s down to the way he’s got them playing.
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The 26-year-old said he felt “very emotional” when he heard about his inclusion, although he did not believe it at first.
