Becks backs Rooney
Wednesday, 01 March, 2006
David Beckham believes Wayne Rooney will be England's star man at the World Cup in Germany.
David Beckham believes Wayne Rooney will be on a high against Uruguay after winning his first ever medal for Manchester United - and that is good news for England.
Rooney, a hero in Euro 2004, is maturing into one of the best players in the world. And Beckham believes he is ready to take the World Cup by storm in Germany this summer.
The youngster won his first ever medal as a professional on Sunday when he scored twice in Manchester United’s Carling Cup Final victory over Wigan.
Now his international captain is backing him to add many more to his collection in future - including with England.
Beckham said: "I think Wayne getting his first medal is great, it’s great for Manchester United and for Wayne. I’m pleased for Gary Neville as well because it was his first trophy as a captain. It’s a confidence booster, that’s what it does for players."
It’s hard to imagine Rooney being any more confident than he already is because his performance at the Millennium Stadium proved he is a man for the big occasion.
He also scored in his last England game, a famous 3-2 friendly win over Argentina in Geneva, so it’s easy to see why Beckham admits it is crucial we get the best out of him in Germany this summer.
He said: "Getting your best players on the ball is very important. In the Argentina game it happened a bit and we can do that more with Wayne and with other players.
"But thankfully in this team we’ve not only got Wayne who can score goals but also Michael Owen, Frank Lampard - who has done it so many times with England and Chelsea - and obviously Steven Gerrard as well and Joe Cole. We’ve got players who can get on the ball and perform."
England begin their World Cup preparations with a match against Uruguay at Anfield tonight and Beckham says there is a huge determination in the squad to end 40 years without a trophy.
"I think the position of the team is very good at the moment," he said. "As a team we’re very strong - as a unit on and off the pitch we’re very strong. And going into a competition like the World Cup that is one of the biggest things.
"The preparation starts now. I think the manager and coaching staff have been clever by picking the three friendlies that we’ve got because they are going to be similar to the teams we play in the World Cup. That’s going to be good for our team.
"So we have to take the friendlies as seriously as we did against Argentina because the passion and enthusiasm we showed in that game is something we have to bring to these games now. They are very, very important."