Rooney’s international farewell drives Wembley ticket rush
THE NATIONAL
The English Football Association has sold more than 20,000 tickets for England’s friendly against the United States since former captain Wayne Rooney’s one-off international comeback was confirmed.
Rooney, England’s record scorer with 53 goals, is expected to be brought on as a substitute to claim his 120th cap in the charity game at Wembley tomorrow.
Rooney’s involvement has led to a late rush for tickets over the past week, with an attendance of about 60,000 now predicted.
The charity match will raise funds for the Wayne Rooney Foundation, which aims to improve the lives of disadvantaged children.
“Looking forward to meeting up with the @England squad later today, always a huge honour. An exciting week for @FoundationWR!,” Rooney wrote on Twitter before joining Gareth Southgate’s squad on Monday.
Rooney, who began his career at Everton, spent 13 seasons at Manchester United.
After a season back at Everton, he moved to the United States to join DC United, helping them to the MLS play-offs in his first campaign.
Southgate is expected to give his first-choice players some rest against the United Stated ahead of an Uefa Nations League clash against Croatia on Sunday.
Tottenham Hotspur rightback Kieran Trippier was ruled out of England’s internationals against the US and Croatia this week due to a groin injury.
Trippier, who scored in England’s World Cup semi-final defeat to Croatia in July, hobbled off after just 25 minutes of Spurs’ 1-0 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday. Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck, who suffered a serious ankle injury in a Europa League clash with Sporting Lisbon last week, is the only other withdrawal from the original 28-man squad named by Gareth Southgate.
Meanwhile, Everton pair Gylfi Sigurdsson and Andre Gomes will spend the international break on Merseyside after injuries ruled them out of duty for their countries.
Sigurdsson did not travel to join up with Iceland for matches with Belgium and Qatar because of an ankle problem sustained from a tackle by Chelsea’s Jorginho at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Gomes, who has played the full 90 minutes in Everton’s last three matches after returning from injury, joined up with the Portugal squad but was sent home after it was decided his fitness was not good enough for matches against Italy and Poland because of bruising.
Everton Manager Marco Silva will hope the international break will give them time to recover ahead of the visit of Cardiff on November 24.