Neville was in bouyant mood following England's emphatic 6-1 win over Iceland at the City of Manchester Stadium on Saturday.

The game will be best remembered for Rooney's sensational brace which provided England with the perfect tonic as they fly out to Portugal for the start of Euro 2004.

Rooney's second goal in particular showed why he can be one of the major stars in the tournament this summer.

And even though the England players rushed to congratulate Rooney over his spectacular strike, Neville reveals he wound up the Everton forward that he could not save it for the showdown against France on Sunday.

Neville said: "Wayne Rooney scored a great goal and I said to him at the time that I wished he would have saved it for the France game on Sunday.

"But you can never pick your moment of when you are going to score a great goal like that.

"It was a fantastic strike from someone of his age to be doing something like that. I have said that from the moment he played his first game.

"It was a special moment and I think everyone inside the ground, including the Iceland fans was clapping that moment."

Neville insists the squad are full of confidence as they prepare to face the European champions in the opening game in Lisbon.

But Neville has warned the nation not to get to carried away with the Iceland result, even though this is one of the best England squads going into a major tournament.

Neville added: "The Iceland result was one of the best results we have had for a long time in terms of the number of goals we scored.

"It was very pleasing to give the fans a number of goals as well. We go into Portugal in a good frame of mind and it's all about the France game now.

"Whatever we have done against Iceland, it is all about whether we can produce against France on Sunday.

"We can't ask for a better result going into the tournament, but I don't want people getting too carried away.

"We are delighted with the goals we scored and the players did produce great moments.

"I think this is the best squad we have had for a long time, but we still have to perform on the day.

"I think the whole country recognises that we have a good set of players and a lot of talented footballers.

"I hope we can play to our capabalities and produce at the moment that is needed."