England captain Wayne Rooney has spoken about edging closer to breaking Bobby Charlton’s goalscoring record for the Three Lions, CaughtOffside reports.
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The Manchester United striker needs just four more goals at international level to become the leading scorer in the history of the English national side, with Charlton the current record-holder with 49 goals.
Rooney admits it would be a proud moment if he could break the record, which seems more than likely given his age and current status in Roy Hodgson’s team.
“Obviously I am close. It will be a fantastic moment for myself, a proud moment if I can do that,” he is quoted as saying.
Still, are the stats a little misleading for Rooney’s England career. When he first broke onto the scene as a 17-year-old, many will have expected a little more from him on the big stage. Yes, he has scored plenty of goals, though many of them standard poachers’ goals against far lower-level opposition in largely uninspiring friendlies and qualifying matches for major tournaments. Meanwhile, after his four goals as a teenager at Euro 2004, only a further two have come at the big tournaments – it wasn’t until last summer that he found the back of the net at a World Cup.
Are we too hard on Rooney? Or are we right to demand that his overall contribution for England be more than just numbers? Charlton inspired a team to World Cup glory and generally lit up the game in his wonderful career – something Rooney looked like doing as a youngster but never quite managed.
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