Wayne Rooney became England’s record goalscorer last night and claimed it was up there as one of the greatest achievements in his career so far.
The England captain fired home a penalty to score his 50th goal for his country and edge past Sir Bobby Charlton to become the nation’s all-time leading marksmen. Here is a personal statement from Wayne:
“I’m still absolutely buzzing from last night, that was a massive moment for me and my family. To become your country’s all time leading goal scorer is something I could never have dreamed of – I’m extremely proud.
When the goal tally kept creeping up I knew the moment would come sooner or later but still couldn’t prepare for how I would feel after it. I ended up getting a bit emotional after I scored and that’s because of how much it means to me, it’s definitely up there with one of the best moments of my career, if not the best.
That penalty was one of the most nervous I’ve ever been, I could feel the anticipation of everybody watching and wondering if this would be the moment. I picked my corner and put my boot through it to make it hard for the goalkeeper, he got a touch but thankfully it had too much power. The relief after it, looking round at everybody on their feet at Wembley and realizing what I’d just done is a moment I will never forget.
I’m happy the record has gone now and I’m looking forward to scoring more for England and hopefully having a successful European Championships next year. I’m proud of the record but the team doing well and succeeding means a lot more to me. I’ve always said that to win a major championship for England would be the highlight of my career. Playing for my country is a huge honour and whenever I put on that shirt I give it my all and that’s what I will continue to do.
As a young kid I grew up playing football on the streets of Croxteth and dreamt of playing football every day, but I never ever dreamed of becoming England’s top goalscorer of all time and surpassing the likes of Owen, Shearer, Lineker, Greaves and of course the great Sir Bobby Charlton who has been alongside me at Manchester United throughout this journey. Goal scorers are the ones whose name are in the record books but I want to place on record my thanks to all the players and coaches involved with the England Team since my Debut in 2003 and the support of all my teammates and coaches at Manchester United and Everton, without their support none of this would have been possible.”
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