England legend Wayne Rooney denied chance of Wembley farewell by FA
There have been calls for England’s record scorer to be included in the squad for the upcoming friendlies with Germany and Brazil to allow Roo a proper send-off
WAYNE ROONEY is set to miss out on a Wembley farewell match.
There have been calls for England’s record scorer to be included in the squad for next month’s friendlies with Germany and Brazil to allow him a big send-off.
German forward Lukas Podolski was given a similar tribute when he played against the Three Lions in March — but the FA have declined the opportunity.
Wembley chiefs are still planning to honour the Everton striker, 32, who retired from international football in August.
Rooney, who scored 53 goals in 119 appearances, could feature in a non-playing tribute in England’s first home game of 2018, which looks likely to be against Italy in March.
Former Arsenal forward Podolski quit international football in August 2016 before playing a farewell match for the Germans this year.
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He admitted his Dortmund goodbye was “like a great movie” as he scored the winner against England.
After Rooney retired, Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate was asked whether the hitman could feature in a Podolski-style game.
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Southgate said: “It’s never been done before and we have obviously had World Cup winners before.
“So other people have to make the decision but, absolutely, we should be recognising his career.
“I’m sure in the future there could be some involvement with England.”
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Charlie Wyett's view
WAYNE ROONEY earned 119 England caps — his last coming at home to Scotland in a 3-0 World Cup qualifying win 11 months ago.
It is a shame he will not get a 120th in a retirement tribute game, the same way Lukas Podolski ended his Germany career against the Three Lions in Dortmund seven months ago.
Traditionalists will squirm at this idea of a Hollywood-style ending, and I totally understand.
As manager Gareth Southgate pointed out, our World Cup winners got nothing like that.
But times change. There would be an appetite among England fans to see Rooney a final time.
His Three Lions career was mixed, with not enough goals in tournaments — something he accepts.
Ironically, his 53rd and final England goal came in their greatest embarrassment — the 2-1 loss to Iceland at Euro 2016.
Rooney, 32 yesterday, may not be seen as an all-time great, despite his record, but he did remain popular with England fans.
Equally, he was still a decent servant for 13 years. One problem was he thought it his responsibility to carry the side.
In the Euro 2016 opener, a 1-1 draw with Russia, he played in midfield but was still England’s best player by some distance.
A cameo against Brazil next month would have been nice and maybe, like Podolski in his own send-off, he would have ended up the hero scoring the winner.
Rooney is likely to receive some sort of non-playing tribute from the FA.
But his only hope of actually running out under the Arch again seems to be with Everton.