Wayne Rooney has underlined his determination to enjoy his 120th and farewell England appearance against the United States tomorrow – and make amends for the times he believes he put too much pressure on himself on national-team duty.
“I’ve stepped back from that now and can analyse it that there was that pressure,” said Rooney, the national team’s record goalscorer.
“Also that pressure on the team, and having that makes you try too hard and makes you a bit too anxious, so you don’t enjoy it as much as you should.
“You play your best football and best performances when you’re enjoying playing and winning. I’m going to enjoy the game on Thursday, the minutes I get on the pitch.”
Rooney added that the pressure was self-imposed rather than media-produced, saying: “Sometimes you do put too much on yourself and that affects your performances.”
Strange feeling
The 33-year-old former Manchester United and Everton player, also confirmed his intention to end his career in the United States with DC United – “I’ll finish my career there” – and admitted it was “a strange feeling” stepping back into the England set-up this week.
However, he defended manager Gareth Southgate’s decision to give him the opportunity of a farewell appearance, arguing that Southgate’s wish to connect different generations of England players should be applauded.
“Paul Gascoigne and Alan Shearer were players I looked up to when I was younger [and] if one of those had walked in the dressing room when I was a young player, you’d be in awe of them and it would have been great for the team,” he said. “What Gareth is doing the right thing.
“As a country obviously we haven’t done anything like this before. I hope in 10-15 years time we are sat here for someone, say, Harry Kane, who could possibly go on and get the goalscoring record and it will be something that happens again.”
‘Thank you’
Rooney explained that discussions had been going on with the Football Association “for about 12 months” regarding an honour of this kind, but he had not wished to be involved during the lead-up to the World Cup.
“I felt it wasn’t the right time to do that,” said Rooney, who stressed he would not have played in tomorrow’s fixture had it meant taking him above Peter Shilton, who has 125 caps on the all-time appearances list.
“If I was in a position where this game was going to take the record off Peter Shilton, I would never have played in the game. I would never have done that.
“But the game isn’t going to affect an outfield player or Peter Shilton so we felt it was a good opportunity to get some minutes again and say a thank you to the fans, but also to raise money for underprivileged children who need it desperately.”
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