Rooney looking for more goals
Thursday, 08 October, 2009
Wayne Rooney is in line to be Europe's top scorer in World Cup Qualifying.
With nine goals to his name so far, Wayne Rooney holds the England record for the number of goals scored in a Qualifying campaign and he said he would be 'honoured' to finish this World Cup Qualifying campaign as the leading marksman in Europe.
A 5-1 victory over Croatia last month sealed England's berth in next summer's World Cup, but they still have two Qualifiers to complete before any thoughts of South Africa can be entertained. They take on Ukraine in Dnipro on Saturday before hosting Belarus at Wembley Stadium four days later, and Rooney will be looking to add to his already impressive tally.
"I'd be delighted," Rooney said, of the prospect of being the top European scorer in Qualifying. "It's a great honour to score for your country [but] to be leading scorer in the whole of Europe throughout the Qualifying campaign, [I'd be] proud [of] that."
Under Fabio Capello, England have notched 31 goals in eight matches, so where does the Manchester United forward believe this prolific streak has come from?
"We've played a different system under this Manager to previous Managers and it's allowed us more space. We've defended higher up the pitch and when we've nicked the ball, it's given us a chance to score more goals and we've taken the chances.
"[The Ukraine and Belarus matches are our] chance to go through the Qualifying stage unbeaten. Ideally we'd like six points from the two games and the Manager has made it clear to us that he wants six points. These two games are as important for us as the last [eight Qualifying] games we've played.
"There are not many games before the World Cup so it's important we take these two games seriously and try and do the best we can."
Click on the play icon in the top right of the screen to watch Rooney's full press conference.
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