Rooney Eyes Perfect 10

After leading England to an impressive 3-1 victory over Belarus last night, Wayne Rooney has set his sights on finishing World Cup qualifying with a perfect record…

The Manchester United star netted twice in Minsk as England claimed their fourth consecutive win to increase their stranglehold on UEFA Group Six.

The Three Lions will be aiming for five in a row when they take on the Ukraine in April, but Rooney is looking even further afield.

“It would be nice to win all the qualifiers,” he said in the Daily Mail. “The two most difficult games, in Belarus and Croatia, we have got out of the way and we have managed to come out with maximum points. I don’t see any reason why we can’t win all the qualifiers now.”

England have fallen pray to complacency before with major tournaments on the horizon; few will forget the embarrassment they suffered last year when they failed to qualify for the EURO 2008 finals.

However, things have gradually improved since Fabio Capello took the reins. His tactics, teams selections and disciplinary policy continue to cause the odd stir, but the results are there for all to see.

Rooney, like the rest of the squad, is determined to ignore the hype and focus on improving game by game.

“We have worked really hard to be in the position we are in and we’ve got to keep working hard,” he said. “We are in a comfortable position and we need to get as many points as possible over the remaining games.”

Rooney’s brace in Belarus took his tally to five goals in the last three games – an impressive response from a player whose goalscoring record has been widely criticised.

The former Everton player added: “I always believe I’m going to score when I go out there. I’m a confident person.”

Kieran Quentin

Source: http://www.goal.com/