THIS IS A STRANGE COUNTRY
Southgate claims England does not know how to treat its heroes & says Rooney deserves his Wembley tribute
GARETH SOUTHGATE has claimed England is a “strange country” following the criticism surrounding Wayne Rooney’s Wembley farewell.
England legend Peter Shilton led the voices of dissent accusing the FA of giving out cheap caps.
But Southgate believes England has not done enough for past heroes – including the 1966 World Cup winners – and finds it odd that there has been so much opposition to the Rooney tribute considering he has won 119 caps.
The furore over Rooney’s inclusion has even overshadowed the surprise call-up for Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson (bottom).
Three Lions boss Southgate, who yesterday named a 28-man squad for the games against USA and Croatia, said of Rooney, who will play against USA: “He has earned the right to that cap over a period of 10 years and six major tournaments with England. He is the country’s record goalscorer.
“The fact is it is an opportunity to pay tribute to what he has achieved. We are a strange country in that we bemoan the fact we haven’t achieved as much as we’d like and then we have a player who should be held in the highest regard and yet spend a lot of time justifying giving him that tribute.”
Southgate says he understands the debate surrounding the merits of the game but wants to change the culture, citing Lukas Podolski’s farewell game for Germany. “I thought the Podolski situation, that was a super night,” said Southgate.
“If I had been a player, and had given what those guys had given, I’d have walked away from there feeling my association had really recognised me in a fitting way. And I think that’s important for players.
“We’ve seen that with players like Pablo Zabaleta and Yaya Toure at Manchester City. Clubs on certain occasions have done that really well. We don’t often have the chance to do that with a national association.
“Everybody says ‘we didn’t do it for Bobby
Moore or for Bobby Charlton.’ But I don’t think any of us are particularly happy about that.
“So we are doing it on this occasion. And I think it’s a really nice way to pay tribute to
Wayne’s career.”
“If I become a player, I want to see how former players are treated – that’s very important because you can then see what the future holds for you.”
We know plenty about him – Callum is a striker we worked with briefly for the U21s. He’s a threat running in behind defences. He’s been involved in a high number of goals this season. It’s a chance to look at him in training and get a feel of what we do in the senior team. He’s earned the right to a call-up.”
Among centre-backs who haven’t been regulars over the last few months, Michael is asked to play now in a very similar way to how we are playing. He is asked to take more responsibility on the ball. He had a serious foot injury, but I like the way he has played.