Franz backs Rooney for England glory
Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup with West Germany as both a player and coach, said that although Rooney was universally recognised as a “brilliant player” before this season, he had taken his game to new heights.
“He is doing an absolutely fantastic job for Manchester United and I must tell you that we at Bayern will fear him when we play United in the Champions League quarter-finals,” Beckenbauer said last night.
“He is a brilliant player who is playing better than ever.
“It is not easy to score 33 goals for your club in England, or anywhere else, and if he continues scoring like that and playing like that he can win the World Cup for England.
“I think they go to South Africa among the favourites along with Spain, Brazil, Argentina, because, of course, Argentina have Lionel Messi who along with Rooney is the best player in the world.
“They are different players because Messi is so fast and imaginative while Rooney is so strong, but Wayne has made the biggest improvement to his game. He has changed the way he plays and, at 24, has added a maturity to his game.
“I have never seen him play better and I have been watching him for a long time now.”
Beckenbauer said Rooney would be a major threat to Bayern in the Champions League quarter-final.
“Of course we would like to knock them out for revenge for losing the 1999 final but it is going to be tough, and, of course, United have Rooney,’’ Beckenbauer said.
“Anything is possible but first we have to stop Wayne and no-one has been able to do that very often this season.”
Bayern host United in the first leg on Tuesday, with the return leg on April 7.
Meanwhile Paul Scholes is convinced United can win all their remaining seven games to retain their Barclays Premier League crown.
United still have to play Chelsea and must also face Champions League-chasing Manchester City and Tottenham, but their destiny is in their own hands.
Scholes said: “I’d like to think we’ve got the right players, ones who have been there before and know how tough it is to win the league. The game against Chelsea is going to be massive and we know we need to win that one. But that’s not the only important game. If we want to win the league we’re going to have to win every game. It’s going to be tough but I’m sure we can do it.”
Scholes is not discounting the threat of Arsenal, who are just two points behind in second, to United‘s hopes.
The 35-year-old added: “You can’t rule out Arsenal, especially with the run-in they’ve got.
“They’ve played all the top teams twice already, so they’ll be confident of putting together a good run of results.
“But the bottom line is that if we win all our matches we’ll win the league.”
Meanwhile Manchester United have confirmed they are freezing ticket prices next season.
The Glazer family have been attacked for the size of price rises since their controversial takeover in 2005 and it was claimed further increases would be implemented despite the ongoing worldwide economic problems.
However, the club have announced prices will be frozen next term.
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