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Wayne Rooney
Something to shout about: Wayne Rooney has put his sensational form down to the influence of England manager Fabio Capello

It's absolutely Fabio

Simon Johnson, Football Correspondent, in Minsk
16 Oct 2008


Wayne Rooney believes he is in the best England form of his life after his brace fired Fabio Capello's side to a superb 3-1 victory in Belarus.

The 22-year-old has now scored five times in England's last three World Cup qualifiers and he played a massive role in Minsk last night to ensure they stayed top of Group Six with a 100 per cent record.

Rooney earned rave reviews when he began his international career in 2003 and made a massive impact in his first major tournament at Euro 2004 but he insists his current displays have even put that period in the shade.

He said: "This is the best I have ever played for England. At Euro 2004 I did do well but I am really enjoying my football now.

"I'm getting on the ball, making and scoring goals, so I think it is the best I have played for England.

"I'm in good goal-scoring form for both club and country and I hope that will continue and the run will keep going.

"I've worked a lot with the manager [Capello] on finishing since he's come over and it's starting to pay off on the pitch now, which I'm happy about.

"He has given me advice on movement and where the spaces are on the pitch. He always helps me try to get into good positions.

"I'm already looking forward to meeting and working with him again so I can improve even more.

"It's been a great start for us. To take 12 points from 12 is brilliant. We can only move on from here and hopefully get better and start looking towards the World Cup."

Such is Rooney's confidence of England booking their place in South Africa in 2010 that he feels they could go on to win all of their remaining qualification games.

He added: "I don't see any reason why we can't win all the qualifiers now. It would be nice. We have got the two most difficult games, in Belarus and Croatia, out of the way and come out with maximum points."

Strike partner Emile Heskey, who set up Rooney's first goal to put Capello's side back in the lead after seeing Steven Gerrard's opener cancelled out by Pavel Sitko, said England had sent a message.

He added: "Our rivals are looking at us now and realising we are still a force and that we are starting to get back to the top of our game.

Meanwhile, David Beckham won his 107th cap as a substitute to move ahead of Sir Bobby Charlton and to within one appearance of Sir Bobby Moore.

He said: "I visited Sir Bobby Charlton's soccer school when I was 10 years old. And with him being a United legend, I'm very honoured to be above him in the list and to be as close to him as I am. It's special."

Reader views (7)

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How can Beckham link his name with Sir Bobby Charlton, he should never been given all those caps.

- Jan Norfolk, norfolk, 17/10/2008 14:02
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The difference between Rooney and most of the other England players is, he plays with pride heart and passion for his country.Us United fans see him doing the same think for his club every week. The man just hates to lose, take note Cashley and Gerrard. ROONEY ROONEY ROONEY.

- James Hennessy, london england, 16/10/2008 19:57
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Brilliant result. Superb performance. What I cant understand is how this is possible. There are even more foreign players in the Premier League than there were the last time we failed to qualify for Europe.

- Luke Mayday, London, England, 16/10/2008 17:18
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I am glad that we are starting to play but the real test will come against the bigger teams. If we play against Argentina like we did in the first half last night there will only be one result.

However progress takes time and we are moving in the right direction.

- Brendan Clifford, London, 16/10/2008 17:03
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Yeah lets not get carried away there Mr Rooney, the under performing, over rated player for both club and country, so you finally scored a few goals? These opponents are minor in comparison to the countries we must face to win the world cup.

- Brandon Thomas, London UK, 16/10/2008 15:26
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So we have beaten a few minor countries. When we beat the likes of Germany, Spain and Argentina I will believe the England team is going somewhere. And why is Beckham still making cameo appearances? Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore earned their caps on merit NOT bling!

- Michael, London, 16/10/2008 12:42
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Its a good feeling watching the way England playing
this time after a sad story in previous world cup . Keep up the good work, maintain the strong relation among
player and always keep focus on the game .

rgds/yus

- Yusniman Yusof, kuala lumpur , malaysia, 16/10/2008 09:49
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