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There is much debate about whether Gareth Southgate should be giving Wayne Rooney his 120th and final cap. Many have suggested that it implies the game is a charity match with others saying it denies some young players such as James Maddison or Callum Wilson the opportunity to impose themselves in the international team, as Rooney did many years ago.
However one cannot deny that Rooney has deserved his appraisal given the 53 goals, 119 appearances and 4 England Men's Player of the Year awards he has won.
In the upcoming game against USA, Rooney will receive his formal farewell when he comes on as a substitute to claim his 120th cap. He has, however, mentioned that he hasn't always enjoyed his time with England.
“I know certainly from my experience that there were maybe times when you didn’t enjoy it as much as I should of, so I’m going to enjoy this,” Rooney said. “It will be emotional, my last game obviously. The important thing for me is to enjoy it.”
However, Rooney has done enough to go down in the books as an England legend. On that note, let's look back at his best moments in an England shirt:
#1 Breaking records
Rooney made his debut for England in a 1-3 defeat to Australia on 13 February 2003.
Despite a disappointing result, he broke records that day by becoming the youngest player ever to represent England aged 17 years and 111 days. This record has since been taken off him by Theo Walcott who made his debut aged 17 years and 75 days.
However, Rooney does maintain the record for the youngest ever goalscorer scoring at the age of age 17 years and 317 days on his 6th cap for England. This makes him the only 17-year-old to have ever scored for England, albeit his first England goal was against Macedonia.
#2 England's all-time record scorer
With a record of 53 goals in 119 international appearances, Rooney is England's all-time top scorer, surpassing Bobby Charlton's record with a penalty against Switzerland at Wembley Stadium during UEFA Euro 2016 qualification.
Sir Bobby Charlton’s England goalscoring record stood for 45 years, back to a time when the national team were still world champions. Given how long this record stood, Rooney breaking the same was one mean feat.
Wayne Rooney's 30-yard strike against Iceland is arguably the most amazing goal of his 53. Honourable mentions are also his strike against Brazil in 2013, his volley against Russia in 2007, and his Euros 2004 strike from outside the box aged 18.
This record also put him in at 44th for the most International goals scored.
#3 High flying teen at 2004 Euros
It was the Portugual 2004 Euros that made him an international sensation. Aged 18, Rooney played with an arrogance that only a teenager could possess. He became the youngest scorer in European Championship history with a brace in England’s 3-0 win over Switzerland, but against Croatia, he truly displayed his abilities.
Playing with the arrogance of an unintimidated youngster already coming to the peak of his prowess, Rooney scored two sublime goals. The first one was an outside-of-the-box long-range smash, while the second was the result of a fantastic one-two play which paved the way for him to steer clear and score.
It became apparent on an international scale how natural Rooney was on a pitch. England would win the match 4-2, playing some fine attacking football.
However, when Rooney got injured just 27 minutes into his first Euro's quarter-final, against Portugal it went downhill. England lost eventually on penalties. Rooney had blown away the international scene scoring 4 goals in total at the 2004 Euros.
#4 England's ticket to the FIFA World Cup 2014
At Wembley, Roy Hodgson's England needed to beat Poland to gain automatic qualification to the FIFA World Cup 2014. Having scored in the 4-1 win over Montenegro the week before, this occasion was to be a lot tenser. It was Rooney who scored the deadlock-breaking goal with a header after 41 minutes from an in-form Leighton-Baines cross.
Before Rooney netted his 38th international goal, taking him at the time within 11 goals of Sir Bobby Charlton’s all-time record, and settling Wembley worries, England suffered some nervy moments, particularly when Poland counter-attacked, roared on by their 20,000-plus fans.
Hodgson could be seen getting captivated in the match himself uttering ' F*** me' after Lewandowski attacked, the pressure on this match had amounted as international disappointment seemed imminent. The confident Rooney header broke the deadlock and put England the platform to go on and win 2-0 with Gerrard scoring the second, booking England a flight to Rio.
