Rooney the fan very content with his lot
Ex-United star purring over England starlet Sancho
IT IS one thing to accept that your time is over, quite another to acknowledge that the coming generation is doing even better without you. As such, it would be wrong to dismiss the enthusiasm with which Wayne Rooney is embracing this current England team.
It might seem natural to be excited about the vibrancy Gareth Southgate has evoked in the national side, especially after the generous farewell Rooney was given at Wembley on Thursday.
Yet there is another potential reaction to the vivacity this group are generating, especially if you might once have been part of it but are no longer. It is just as common to resent success achieved by those other than yourself.
‘I know there are some ex-players who I’ve spoken to who can’t come to terms with England doing well,’ said Rooney. ‘That is wrong. I’m not like that. I’m a fan now. I want England to do well.’
Of course, Rooney would be inhuman if some part of him did not wish this had all come along two years ago or, more realistically, when he was closer to his prime, four years ago. The 2014 World Cup was a calamity for the England team but blame could not be laid on the captain in that instance.
But there it is. His England day is done. ‘I’ve had my time,’ he said. ‘I’m happy with what I’ve contributed to the national team and I look forward now to the next few years and watching this team progress. I’ve enjoyed being around Gareth, the players, the coaching staff and seeing how it’s all developing. And the game [against the US on Thursday] was great.’
For some, Rooney, 33, will always be a hothead incapable of such perspective because his public image was forged when he was so young and is seared irrevocably in the minds of so many. But he is a reflective individual, necessarily more mature and seems to be at peace with his change of status.
This is the generation to take the baton on. And today they can qualify for a summer tournament and the opportunity to win the UEFA Nations League. Defeat Croatia at Wembley and England will have qualified for the Nations League semi-finals.
In short, they will be a game away from an official international final, two games away from winning something. Scoff all you like, but a team who have not been in a final, let alone won a trophy, since 1966 cannot afford to be fussy about which tournaments they choose to take seriously.
‘The Nations League is new and people have different opinions — just like they had with my appearance against the US,’ said Rooney, neatly drawing attention to the critics of this innovation. ‘At the moment, it isn’t the biggest tournament but it could become big and it could be the stepping stone for a lot of countries over the next 10 to 15 years. To win any trophy for England is great and if they can do that I’m sure everyone will be delighted.’
England being less than the sum of their parts was the issue of Rooney’s day; in Russia it seemed that Southgate had achieved what had previously been impossible and made them more than the sum of their parts. It is an interpretation Rooney takes issue with, however. He would not want to foist the unwanted and unfulfilled moniker of the golden generation on another group of players.
‘The team I played in had superstars but this team also has superstars,’ he said. ‘Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, John Stones — one of the best centre-backs in world football. This is a great squad, with other players who can come in. I have seen first-hand that they are being coached right and they are responding.
‘They have come off the back of a hugely successful World Cup. But in a strange way the game against Spain [3-2 last month in Seville] will give them even more confidence than what they did in the summer. That was massive, to win away in Spain.’
Of course, there was a Rooney throwback on Thursday and it came in the performance of an 18-yearold making his first start for England. Jadon Sancho was fearless and made a huge impact. It put you in mind of another 17-year-old starting for England for the first time, at the Stadium of Light in April 2003 — when Sancho had just turned three.
Was he surprised by Sancho’s ability, he was asked. Perhaps remembering himself at that age, he smiled. ‘I’m not surprised,’ he said. ‘He’s a fantastic talent. I spoke to him before the game and he said he was nervous, which is normal, but the important thing for me was that he showed he isn’t afraid to make mistakes. He’s only 18. It happens. I told him to have an impact and a few moments that people will remember — and he certainly did.
‘I’m excited for Jadon. I’m excited for all of them, I’m excited for England. This is a great opportunity to make that next step. They’ve already got to a World Cup semifinal but they can’t sit back and be happy about doing what the 1990 team did. They have the potential to go further. The mentality is right and they’ll be pushing for more.’
Rooney had addressed the team in the dressing room at the end of the game. The theme of his team talk was along those lines, that there is an opportunity here to be taken should they care to seize it.
Harry Kane, the man who presented Rooney with his commemorative plaque on Thursday and the man Rooney expects to break his goal-scoring record, says the current squad appreciated his input. ‘It was great to hear him talk about us and how proud he was of us in the summer. And even to come in and see what we’re doing and little changes here and there. To have someone like Wayne who is one of our best ever players to appreciate what we’re doing and see a future in us, it gives us more of a boost to go and do it.’
And Kane and the current squad fully appreciate the fact that a much more gilded set of players never reached a World Cup semifinal.
‘It shows how difficult it is,’ said Kane. ‘It’s not easy to get to a World Cup semi, as we know, Euros the same. Everyone has their own opinion on it on this competition. But for us it’s a chance to play a big semi-final against what looks like another top nation.’
Start with Croatia today and perhaps the UEFA Nations League might come into view. And the chance to win a trophy is not something England can choose to be picky about.