Wayne Rooney links up with England squad in farewell match

Sport360 staff 07:20 13/11/2018
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  • Wayne Rooney joined the rest of the England squad at St George’s Park on Monday ahead of his one-off comeback against the United States.

    The 33-year-old will come off the bench in Thursday’s friendly to collect his 120th cap after the Football Association decided to honour his record-breaking international career.

    Rooney, who with 53 goals is England’s all-time leading goalscorer, also holds more caps than any other outfield player.

    He will be a substitute at Wembley but manager Gareth Southgate will give him minutes on the pitch in a match officially known as the Wayne Rooney Foundation International.

    The DC United frontman has not played for England in almost two years and is not in contention for Sunday’s Nations League clash with Croatia.

    Only Danny Welbeck is missing from the initial 28-man squad named by Southgate last week after the Arsenal forward broke his ankle in Thursday night’s Europa League draw with Sporting Lisbon.

    The remainder of the squad joined together on Monday, with some going through a light training session.

    After making his senior Three Lions debut as a 17-year-old, Rooney was still excited to be back on the scene some 15 years later, posting a message on Twitter ahead of meeting up with the squad.

    “Looking forward to meeting up with the @England squad later today, always a huge honour. An exciting week for @FoundationWR!,” he wrote.

    Rooney is joined in the ranks by Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson, who earned his first senior call-up after a fine start to the season with the Cherries.

    Tottenham full-back Kieran Trippier also reported for duty despite limping out of Saturday’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.

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