Rooney to be given England armband against the United States
Wayne Rooney will wear the number 10 shirt on his England swansong – with manager Gareth Southgate certain the country’s record goalscorer will receive the respect he deserves.
Thursday’s friendly against the United States will see Rooney’s Three Lions career celebrated, with the 33-year-old also set to be given a guard of honour and wear the captain’s armband on what is sure to be an emotional night at Wembley.
Now at DC United, Rooney will make a late substitute appearance in a match named in honour his foundation, with the Football Association’s decision to toast the former captain’s achievements splitting opinion.
While Southgate had confirmed Rooney would not start the game, none of the other special touches had been revealed until he spoke on the eve of the fixture, having first consulted with the rest of his squad.
“We have spoken with the players,” Southgate said. “I didn’t want to make those decisions last week – the players are very keen that Wayne wears the number 10.
“We believe that is a fitting tribute – I think that we have spoken a lot as a group about doing things our own way over the last two years, we did that right through the summer.
“All of our group have huge respect for Wayne and they feel that it is fitting his last game should be his number 10 and when he puts that shirt on his wall somewhere at the end of his career, it is going to be a special night and the 10 is the number he has there.”
Southgate also announced that Manchester City’s Fabian Delph will captain England in what is expected to be a much-changed and experimental side ahead of Sunday’s crunch Nations League meeting with Croatia.
Delph said he will be handing the captaincy to Rooney when he is introduced and that the players have planned to pay their respected to his achievements in their own way.
When asked about the captain’s issue, Delph initially joked: “I probably won’t get the armband again so probably not!”
But he then confirmed Rooney will wear the armband one last time, adding: “When I first came into the England set up Wayne was captain and he welcomed me, put his arm around me and made me feel at home.
“As soon as he comes on tomorrow I will be giving him that armband back. I think we are going to be giving him a guard of honour.
“It is going to be a huge night for Wayne and we want to make it special for him. We spoke in camp and we think it is important to honour the achievements he has made throughout his career.”
Southgate spoke out against the criticism of the decision to honour Rooney when announcing his squad last week, while United States interim coach David Sarachan has also thrown his weight behind the move.
Rooney said on Tuesday that he was “not asking for people to agree with it” – with Southgate unhappy that the former Manchester United man even had to talk about the situation.
“I think that has been clear this week,” he replied when asked if he felt the country had enough appreciation for Rooney’s feats.
Wayne Rooney will wear his favoured number 10 shirt for one final time (Nick Potts/PA)
“It has been disappointing to see him almost have to defend his inclusion in the game but that is where we are.
“The more important thing is that within the England group we value what he has done, when you are in the dressing room and share the dressing room with someone you know the hardest thing in football is to cross the white line and it is incredibly hard when you are the person who is expected to deliver.
“Very few people in the world can appreciate what that feels like, it is very different to run of the mill players like me who played for England.
“I know all of the staff and all of the players are delighted to have him with us. Hopefully he has felt the warmth from all of us and I think that will mean a lot to him and the reaction of the supporters is something that is going to feel special to him.”
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