Wayne Rooney backs Harry Kane to beat his record as England’s all-time top goalscorer

Wayne Rooney asked Harry Kane to present him with his trophy at his England farewell tonight, because he believes that one day he will do the same for the England captain.

Kane handed Rooney, his predecessor as England captain, a memento before tonight’s game at Wembley to recognise his England career and the fact that he is the country’s all-time record goalscorer with 53 goals. Kane himself is currently on 19 but Rooney predicts that one day Kane will beat his record.

“Before playing the game I asked Harry Kane to present me with the award, because I believe he will beat my goal scoring record,” Rooney confirmed afterwards. “And I look forward to presenting him with the trophy in 10 years’ time.”

Rooney then gave a speech in the dressing room after the final whistle, which Gareth Southgate spoke warmly of in his press conference afterwards. “[Rooney said that] he had really appreciated the way everyone had made him feel welcome,” Southgate said.

“It is difficult to walk back into a dressing room where there are new staff, and a lot of players he hadn’t played with. But he has been brilliant. The time he has given to all the players, the little conversations with some of the younger ones. He spoke about what playing for England had meant to him, and what it should mean to the three debutants.”

Southgate was full of praise for Rooney’s commitment with the England squad this week, in training at St George’s Park and then at Wembley tonight. “The humility he showed in training, tracking back in the five a sides as if his life depended on it,” Southgate said. “He had some lovely touches tonight, some exquisite through balls, and he was a yard to the left of Brad Guzan from a fairytale ending.

“We wanted to test some young players, and we had a very inexperienced team out there, but they’ve come through and learned a lot, and we’ve paid our respects to one of our greatest ever players. We did that in a way we felt was fitting.”

Jadon Sancho was one of the players to make his first England start tonight and he was full of praise for Rooney’s contribution, and how the man 15 years old older than him had helped him in the build-up to his full international debut.

“Playing with Rooney was a dream come true because obviously he is a big legend and a role model to me,” Sancho said. “I was a bit nervous ahead of the game and he came over to me and told me to just express myself because I had nothing to lose. Without that talk I might have still been nervous. I never thought I would make my debut at 18-years-old but I just have to thank the coaches for giving me the opportunity to play.”