England football captain Wayne Rooney announced on Tuesday (Aug 30) that the 2018 World Cup in Russian Federation will be his final tournament as an worldwide footballer.
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Rooney will don the armband under Allardyce for the first time on Sunday when England launch their attempt to reach the next World Cup in Russian Federation with a game against Slovakia in Trnava.
While he admits his style is not quite in line with the refined, academy honed talents of his new worldwide team-mates, many critics of England’s diabolical Euro 2016 campaign feel Antonio’s experience of footballing hardship before success is just what the national team needs under Sam Allardyce.
The 30-year-old Manchester United forward made the announcement in a press conference Tuesday ahead of the team’s first qualifier Sunday in Slovakia. “Russian Federation will be my last tournament”, he told a press conference at St George’s Park in Burton, central England, yesterday. However, after England’s dismal Euro 2016 exit to Iceland there were suggestions that Rooney’s 13-year global career might be over.
“It’s not just about playing, it’s about trying to win and that’s what I’ve tried to do throughout my England career and what I’ll continue to do for the next two years”.
“He reiterated I would continue as captain”.
“There were some questions about whether I should stop playing, but I am looking forward to getting back on the pitch”, he added. I hopefully want to finish my career at United. The strain of captaining the national side could further inhibit Rooney’s already fading abilities, leading to eventual anonymity within the ranks at Old Trafford.
“Then I said to myself “become an international”.
West Ham United winger Michail Antonio says that his “raw and ragged” approach towards the game is not something every manager will like.
“I’m not that academy player who’s going to pick it up, pass it and be neat and tidy all the time”.
“I don’t think about it before”.
Newly-appointed England manager Sam Allardyce is keen to the leave the door open for foreign born players to enter the national team set-up and has told the British media he would have no problem picking a player who qualified only through residency.
“I’d like to (go into management) of course”. Allardyce has even clarified Rooney’s position, saying that his captain will play as a No. 10.
“I started playing football professionally when I was 16, global football when I was 17”.
“I have got 26 nieces and nephews and it is good to show them you can always do anything if you put your mind to it”, he said. While the former Bolton, West Ham, Newcastle and Sunderland manager’s first England selection was conservative – save for the promotion of West Ham’s Michail Antonio – this was perhaps understandable for a manager who has yet to preside over a single global match.
Antonio began his career with Tooting & Mitcham, and was loaned out to a series of clubs during his subsequent spell at Reading, before impressing with Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest and now West Ham.
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“I wasn’t sure I could take him seriously but he showed me a piece of paper (confirming the squad) and after that I started welling up inside”.
