Raviteja
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Wayne Rooney marked his first competitive match as England captain by firing his way into the national team's top five goalscorers of all time.
The Manchester United forward entered the World Cup qualifying game against San Marino on 29 goals but a first-half penalty and a second-half strike enabled him to leapfrog a famous trio - Tom Finney, Nat Lofthouse and Alan Shearer - and move into fifth place with 31. The only men now above him are Michael Owen (40), Jimmy Greaves (44), Gary Lineker (48) and United legend Sir Bobby Charlton (49).
"Obviously it's a great honour for me, there are some great players there," Rooney told ITV Sport. "To be in England's top five goalscorers of all time is something I'm extremely proud of. Hopefully there are many more goals to come. I'm still only 26, I've got a long way to go, so hopefully I can score a lot more."
England won 5-0 thanks to Rooney's double, a brace from Danny Welbeck and a final flourish from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but some pundits expected a bigger margin against the part-time minnows with only one international win to their name.
"We possibly could have scored more," admitted Wayne. "We created some good chances and their goalkeeper made some good saves. There was maybe a bit of poor finishing but it's not that easy when the opposition get ten or eleven men behind the ball and defend. It was difficult to break them down at times. We just had to keep moving the ball quickly and create chances. We managed to do that and we scored five goals so it wasn't a bad result."
"To be in England's top five goalscorers of all time is something I'm extremely proud of."
- Wayne Rooney
Rooney proud to be in England's top five - Official Manchester United Website
The Manchester United forward entered the World Cup qualifying game against San Marino on 29 goals but a first-half penalty and a second-half strike enabled him to leapfrog a famous trio - Tom Finney, Nat Lofthouse and Alan Shearer - and move into fifth place with 31. The only men now above him are Michael Owen (40), Jimmy Greaves (44), Gary Lineker (48) and United legend Sir Bobby Charlton (49).
"Obviously it's a great honour for me, there are some great players there," Rooney told ITV Sport. "To be in England's top five goalscorers of all time is something I'm extremely proud of. Hopefully there are many more goals to come. I'm still only 26, I've got a long way to go, so hopefully I can score a lot more."
England won 5-0 thanks to Rooney's double, a brace from Danny Welbeck and a final flourish from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but some pundits expected a bigger margin against the part-time minnows with only one international win to their name.
"We possibly could have scored more," admitted Wayne. "We created some good chances and their goalkeeper made some good saves. There was maybe a bit of poor finishing but it's not that easy when the opposition get ten or eleven men behind the ball and defend. It was difficult to break them down at times. We just had to keep moving the ball quickly and create chances. We managed to do that and we scored five goals so it wasn't a bad result."
"To be in England's top five goalscorers of all time is something I'm extremely proud of."
- Wayne Rooney
Rooney proud to be in England's top five - Official Manchester United Website
