Wayne Rooney bids farewell to international football as England drub USA 3-0

Wayne Rooney bid farewell to international football as England toppled USA 3-0 at the Wembley Stadium in a friendly on Thursday.

Despite the fact that he didn’t have a goal to his name to sign off on a high, he walked off to huge cheers from the crowd when he came in as a substitute to Jesse Lingard in the 58th minute. By then, England had already gone 2-0 up courtesy goals by Lingard and Trent Alexander-Arnold. The third one was scored by Bournemouth forward Calum Wilson in the 77th minute.

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The match was dubbed as Rooney’s farewell fixture as the Manchester United legend walked into the pitch when he was given a guard of honour by both the teams. He was also awarded by England’s Football Association (FA) at the beginning of the match.

The star forward had called it quits from international football in 2017. Rooney, 33, however, could impact the game in a way he is generally known to be but could only manage to draw a save from keeper Brad Guzan when the game was in the stoppage time. A goal in this match would have been fitting enough but he preferred to create chances for others was what summed up his whole career–modest and unselfish.

“Tonight was great, a great way to finish my international career, I thought the lads played great. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a goal but I’ll remember it for a long time,” said Rooney, as quoted by Reuters.

He added further, “I’ve had my time, I can sit back and watch them now and it’s ‘ve had my time, I can sit back and watch them now and it’s my opinion that England are in very safe hands from what I’ve seen this week”.

Yet, this match was just the platform that Jadon Sancho needed to prove why he is one of the best youngsters at the moment. Having handed his first start for his country by manager Gareth Southgate, Sancho impressed many with his skills and his ability to create chances–one of them being a pass to Alexander-Arnold who slotted it home with a low shot.

England next face Croatia in the Nations League at the same ground on Sunday.

Image credit-Sky Sports