Post by onenedkelly on Jun 28, 2006 13:18:06 GMT
Wayne Rooney has spoken of his delight at being involved in England's World Cup squad.
Rooney faced the press for the first time since he was given the all-clear earlier this month to take his place in England's World Cup campaign after his rapid recovery from a broken metatarsal.
He has since played against Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden and Ecuador and he is delighted to be part of the fold.
"It is good to be here and back with the lads, we have done well and I hope that can continue - I am just really pleased to be here and I want to just try my best and try us help win this competition," he told Sky Sports News.
"I have always been positive form the day I got injured and my aim was to take part and I am really happy.
"I know when I am ready to play, the physios and the people that matter know, and there was a lot stuff written wrongly in the press but that happens and I was always confident I would make it.
"I am doing good and it [foot] is improving every day in training and with each game and hopefully that can keep going."
Rooney insists that he is more than happy to play as a lone striker for England - as he did against Ecuador.
"I am happy as long as we keep winning," he continued.
"I will play anywhere the manager wants me to play and if that is up-front on my own or in a two, I am happy to do that.
"As long as we keep winning, that is the main thing and I would gladly go the whole tournament without scoring if we won it.
"It [the system] gives the midfield a lot more chances and as long as they're scoring I am not concerned.
"You have got to be more disciplined, stay up there and stretch it, it is a lot more harder work but I try and do it the best I can.
"I was quite pleased with my performance in the last game and I was delighted with the result and if we get the same again I would snatch your hand off."
Rooney was part of the England squad which lost to Portugal at the same stage of Euro 2004 - but he is not reading anything into their previous encounter as The Three Lions prepare to meet Luiz Felipe Scolari's side once again.
"I think we want to put the game from two years ago behind us and just get on with this tournament and try and progress to the semi-final," he said.
"The previous games we haven't played to our best but we have still managed to get the result we wanted and hopefully that can continue.
"I think we have got a good chance and think we can win.
"We have got a lot of match winners, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard - there are a lot of players who can take the game by the scruff of the neck and win the game for us.
"We don't take any notice of criticism and as long as we keep winning I don't see any problem, the fans seem happy and it is just the press bullying us up - when most countries get to the quarter finals they are happy apart from ours.
"I don't really read much into that, myself and the rest of the players know it is a 23-man squad and it takes everyone to win a World Cup and we just have to get on with it.
"I think the squad is better, a lot more younger players have come in and done well."
Rooney also had words about his Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo who is looking to overcome injury in order to take-part in Saturday's crucial quarter final match-up.
"Although I want him fit it would be nice if he could just miss our game because he is a great player," he said.
"If he plays it will be a tough job for us - I have played with him week-in, week-out for the last three years and he is a handful for any team and hopefully we can keep him quiet on the day."
Sounds like a true proffesional who believes England can really win it, If Wazza is that optimistic of his chances then so am I.
I adore Ronaldo but as people have mentioned on here today just by the interview you can see the difference in mentalities of the two, not sure Ronaldo would be as happy as Rooney if Portugal were to win but he he didn't score.
Rooney faced the press for the first time since he was given the all-clear earlier this month to take his place in England's World Cup campaign after his rapid recovery from a broken metatarsal.
He has since played against Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden and Ecuador and he is delighted to be part of the fold.
"It is good to be here and back with the lads, we have done well and I hope that can continue - I am just really pleased to be here and I want to just try my best and try us help win this competition," he told Sky Sports News.
"I have always been positive form the day I got injured and my aim was to take part and I am really happy.
"I know when I am ready to play, the physios and the people that matter know, and there was a lot stuff written wrongly in the press but that happens and I was always confident I would make it.
"I am doing good and it [foot] is improving every day in training and with each game and hopefully that can keep going."
Rooney insists that he is more than happy to play as a lone striker for England - as he did against Ecuador.
"I am happy as long as we keep winning," he continued.
"I will play anywhere the manager wants me to play and if that is up-front on my own or in a two, I am happy to do that.
"As long as we keep winning, that is the main thing and I would gladly go the whole tournament without scoring if we won it.
"It [the system] gives the midfield a lot more chances and as long as they're scoring I am not concerned.
"You have got to be more disciplined, stay up there and stretch it, it is a lot more harder work but I try and do it the best I can.
"I was quite pleased with my performance in the last game and I was delighted with the result and if we get the same again I would snatch your hand off."
Rooney was part of the England squad which lost to Portugal at the same stage of Euro 2004 - but he is not reading anything into their previous encounter as The Three Lions prepare to meet Luiz Felipe Scolari's side once again.
"I think we want to put the game from two years ago behind us and just get on with this tournament and try and progress to the semi-final," he said.
"The previous games we haven't played to our best but we have still managed to get the result we wanted and hopefully that can continue.
"I think we have got a good chance and think we can win.
"We have got a lot of match winners, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard - there are a lot of players who can take the game by the scruff of the neck and win the game for us.
"We don't take any notice of criticism and as long as we keep winning I don't see any problem, the fans seem happy and it is just the press bullying us up - when most countries get to the quarter finals they are happy apart from ours.
"I don't really read much into that, myself and the rest of the players know it is a 23-man squad and it takes everyone to win a World Cup and we just have to get on with it.
"I think the squad is better, a lot more younger players have come in and done well."
Rooney also had words about his Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo who is looking to overcome injury in order to take-part in Saturday's crucial quarter final match-up.
"Although I want him fit it would be nice if he could just miss our game because he is a great player," he said.
"If he plays it will be a tough job for us - I have played with him week-in, week-out for the last three years and he is a handful for any team and hopefully we can keep him quiet on the day."
Sounds like a true proffesional who believes England can really win it, If Wazza is that optimistic of his chances then so am I.
I adore Ronaldo but as people have mentioned on here today just by the interview you can see the difference in mentalities of the two, not sure Ronaldo would be as happy as Rooney if Portugal were to win but he he didn't score.
