Gareth Southgate reveals players told him to give Wayne Rooney No 10 England shirt

Gareth Southgate has confirmed that Wayne Rooney will wear the No 10 shirt and be handed the captain’s armband for a last time when he comes on against the USA tonight.

Rooney’s recall for the friendly, to pay tribute to his contribution for England, has been a divisive issue during the past week, but Southgate and England’s players have decided to honour him properly.

Harry Kane spoke to Southgate this week making it clear he felt it would not be fitting for Rooney to wear a random number.

Rooney will also be given a guard of honour when he walks out from the tunnel onto the Wembley pitch, where he will be handed a special memento by Football Association chairman Greg Clarke.

Manchester City midfielder Fabian Delph will captain the side from the start but will hand the armband to Rooney when he comes on.

Huge respect

“We’ve spoken with the players,” Southgate said. “The players were very keen Wayne wears the No 10 shirt, we believe that’s a fitting tribute.

“All of our group have huge respect for Wayne and they feel that it is fitting he should wear number 10 in his last game and when he puts that shirt on his wall somewhere, at the end of his career, it is going to be special.”

Southgate admitted he had come round to the idea of handing Rooney the 10 shirt, usually worn by Raheem Sterling, after consulting the England players.

“The senior players discussed it,” Southgate added. “Harry came to see me and said: ‘Look, we don’t think it would be right for him to come on wearing a number he hasn’t worn.’ Part of the game is to pay tribute to what he’s done.

“Players always look at how they would like to be treated in that situation.

“I know last week we said it would be unlikely because he’d be on the bench, but sometimes when you have discussions and are able to think through what we stand for as a group and how we’re trying to work, those moments, it’s good for the players to have an opinion.

“They’re the ones who are playing. And there’s no rulebook. Who decides?

“What did strike a chord with me was one of the comments made… ‘We’ve talked about doing things our own way. We can do things our own way.’ Some things may work, others may not.

“But if we are going to stick to that principle, it’s good that the players are thinking not just for themselves, but about what they would like to happen to others.”

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