Wembley is going to host England’s coming world cup qualifier against San Marino, but English team will be headed by a new captain – Manchester United’s striker – Wayne Rooney. This would be the first big international match for Rooney as being a captain in front of a crowd of 90000 spectators. The 26 years old starlet got its feet into captain’s shoes after England’s regular captain and vice-captain both are out for their own reasons. Though, he has the experience of captaincy, but that was just for one match against Brazil in 2009 where he captained national English soccer team. It happens to bring two surprised gifts for him: one, he got captaincy, and second is yet to come in form of a beautiful baby. Yes, he and his wife Coleen are expecting their second baby. At the moment, he and England manager Roy Hodgson both are equally existing and pressured to display their best form in this qualifier ahead of their probable world cup entry. Notably, England soccer team is ranked fifth by FIFA, yet no one takes it as a tough competition in a world cup match.
Out of blue, Rooney said after his captaincy announcement, “This is something I’m really proud of.”
“It’s a big challenge for myself, and I’m excited. Hopefully we can cap the day off with a good victory.” He added further.
“The players don’t want to let the fans down.”
“The fans, since I’ve been involved with England, have been fantastic. They follow us around the world. We’re looking forward to the game and hopefully we can deliver for the fans.”
Overall, Hodgson doesn’t take San Marino as a real challenge to beat, coz San Marino has only won one out of its 114 international matches along with five draws. In fact, he is optimistic to display best of his team in front of a gigantic home crowd. Moreover, he did not reveal about the final squad nor he hinted on any strategy about their next qualifier match at Warsaw. He said, “We have a very important game in Poland on Tuesday, so of course a lot of my thoughts are how best to use my squad. I know whatever team I choose at Wembley is likely to win the game.”
Besides, a larger section of English fans expect a new leadership would certainly make a difference, and Rooney is quite professional and optimistic too. So, everyone is keeping his fingers crossed for now.