Sports Then and Now

Wayne Rooney will be a key to England's World Cup success.

Most people would agree Wayne Rooney is pivotal to England’s World Cup chances this summer. In fact, many argue that without him, Fabio Capello’s men might as well not turn up in South Africa.

With this in mind, it is good to hear Rooney speak positively about his fitness and general wellbeing as the first game against USA gets closer and closer. England’s World Cup odds make them third favourites for the tournament, and they need their key players at full fitness.

The Manchester United striker has revealed that he has been in “every training session” with England since the World Cup squad got together and that he “feels good” ahead of a very important few weeks for the national team.

There have been rumours since the Mexico game that Rooney has an ankle injury, but he has dismissed that particular story as “a load of rubbish”. Obviously, this is good news, but you have to wonder where this rumour emerged from.

It seems as though some people are determined to panic England supporters. Rooney is clearly the team’s most important player, so news of an injury to him will get people talking won’t it? Therefore, someone decided to report an ankle injury, seemingly out of nowhere.

It is good to hear the player himself put everyone straight on his fitness. The only slight problem he has is a “bit of a stiff neck” but this is something that should pass before the Japan game on Sunday.

Rooney did admit that he feels slightly “jaded” after a long season, but this is to be expected. Still, he might actually be fresher than others as he “hasn’t trained a lot in the last six weeks”, presenting him with a perfect opportunity to rest up ahead of England duty.

The other worry over Rooney is the fact he has only scored once in his last seven appearances for England. Referring to this, he said he was simply “saving them for the World Cup” which is probably the right attitude to have.

It is refreshing to hear Rooney sound so positive and confident, especially when you consider the amount of pressure on his still relatively young shoulders, after all even the best betting site odds make him one of the favourites to be World Cup top scorer.

Many people seem to be focusing on his injury concerns or lack of recent international goals, but the man himself is focused on one thing and one thing only – performing at his best for England to give them the best chance possible of winning the World Cup.