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Wayne Rooney gunning for Bobby Charlton's record

11 Jun 2009


Wayne Rooney admitted he has Sir Bobby Charlton's all-time England goalscoring record in his sights after netting another double in the World Cup qualifier with Andorra at Wembley.

Rooney took his tally to 10 in his last seven games and moved level with Sir Geoff Hurst on 24 goals for his country as England romped to a 6-0 success.

Charlton scored 49 goals for England but Rooney is still only 23 and is already nearly half-way towards that tally.

The Manchester United star said: "If I could beat Bobby Charlton's record, it would be a great achievement and I do have that record in mind.

"I have been delighted with the way the scoring has gone for me in the last few games and this has been my best season with England.

"But we have played well as a team, which is the most important thing, and I have always said that I have never based my game on goals alone.

"I love playing and getting on the ball and getting involved in the game and I am doing that - with the goals coming on top of that as well.

"Hopefully the goals will continue but we are performing as a team and I believe we have one foot in the World Cup finals now."

England are now 10 points clear of both the Ukraine and Croatia and need a maximum of four points from their final three games to go through to South Africa.

Peter Crouch, who scored his 14th goal in 17 starts, said: "It is difficult when a team just comes here to defend but are difficult to break down.

"But it was important that we got the early goal because the longer the game goes on without a goal, the more nervous you get.

"The early goal settled us down and it turned out to be a fabulous end to the season."

Crouch added: "It was difficult for me with the way they play, pulling shirts and holding me. It was difficult to get any sort of chances but I was glad to get on the score-sheet in the end."

Jermain Defoe (2) and Frank Lampard completed the rout and England have scored 26 goals in their seven qualifiers.

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