Wayne Rooney: I will never walk away from my country

Wayne Rooney says he would "never walk away" from England after reaching his 100 caps milestone on Saturday.

The England captain bagged an important equaliser from the spot against Slovenia, which spurred the Three Lions on to another victory, on what was a special night at Wembley for him personally.

Rooney received a commemorative gold cap from England legend Sir Bobby Charlton before the European Qualifier. 

And having become England's ninth and youngest centurion, he has no intention of letting up. 

"A lot of the players I have played with over the last ten years - Steven, Frank, Ashley, Rio - have retired from internationals," said Rooney. 

"I actually spoke to my wife about it. When you get to a certain age, you almost feel like you have to do it, to extend your club career, but she was actually very good. 

"She was the one who said to me: 'It's a short career, you have got plenty of time to have your time off with us as a family when you finish playing. 

"Football is what I love doing. Playing for my country I love, I would regret it. I don't think I ever would walk away."

Simply playing more games for England is not what Rooney is looking for, though.

Rooney netted his 44th goal for England against Slovenia

While he sits just five goals behind Charlton's record, and will continue to move nearer Peter Shilton's caps tally of 125 appearances, the main thing he's after is international success.

Five consecutive wins have put England six points clear at the top of their European Qualifying group heading into the New Year. And Rooney believes the current squad have what it takes to achieve their goal.

"I don’t just want to be remembered as one of the players who gets 100 caps or more. You want to be successful - that’s the main aim," he said.

"I feel, looking at the squad we have, that we’re definitely moving in the right direction.

"It’s going to be tough because we’ve got a lot of young players, but we’re all working hard and we’re all listening to all the ideas that the coaches are giving us."

He added: "That would mean so much more than getting to 100 caps. It’s something that I’m extremely proud to achieve, of course, but the ultimate aim is to be successful."