Wayne Rooney has balked at the claim England lack elite players, suggesting the national team already has stars in the form of Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling.
England and Man United’s all-time leading goalscorer made the statement as he prepares to represent England for the final time against the USA on Thursday.
Kane and Sterling were part of the England team that reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, a tournament in which the Tottenham striker won the Golden Boot with six goals in Russia.
And Rooney, who never made it past a quarter-final at a major international tournament and will be earning his 120th and final cap on Thursday, believes the national team already has stars in its ranks.
“I think they’ve got superstars,” Rooney told a news conference, via Goal. “Harry Kane has been top goalscorer in the Premier League for three or four years.
“Raheem Sterling in the last couple of years has been fantastic. I don’t think it’s fair to say the England team hasn’t got superstars.
“What you’re saying is we had some great established players: David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry… why didn’t it work? I’ve no idea.
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“We tried to be successful. We maybe never had the squad, we had the startling 11 which was very good but going into the tournament we maybe never had that back-up. But I think we had a great team, we were unlucky on a couple of occasions, going out on penalties.
“We gave our best; it wasn’t to be. It’s a chance now for this new generation of players to take up that mantle.”
England play the USA on Thursday followed by a crunch UEFA Nations League League A Group 4 tie against Croatia on Sunday.
The post Rooney: Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling are England’s superstars appeared first on Squawka News.
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