Rooney: Winning is all that matters

Wayne Rooney is convinced England will ease through their World Cup group.

After failing to overcome the United States on Saturday, the Three Lions travel south to Cape Town for tomorrow’s meeting with Algeria knowing their hopes of reaching the last 16 will be hanging by a thread unless they secure three points.

Against the side ranked 30th in the latest FIFA standings, it should not be a problem for Fabio Capello’s side – and Rooney is adamant there is no need to fear.

“The manager is obviously confident and I’m a confident person too,” he said.

“I believe we will qualify from this group – I don’t think there will be any problems about that.

“But the performance on Friday is not something I am too worried about. The only thing I am concerned about is winning.

“With any tournament it is how you finish and not how you start.”

Italy won the World Cup in 1982 without winning any of their three group games and the Azzurri have already started this campaign with a draw.

Not that England and Italy are on their own in getting off to a false start.

Spain’s defeat by Switzerland sent shock waves across the entire tournament and, while South American heavyweights Brazil and Argentina did claim maximum points, neither country was totally convincing.

Even Germany’s four-goal success against Australia did not have Rooney quaking in his boots.

And, contrary to popular opinion, he is one Englishman who would fancy his chances if he ended up in a last-16 confrontation with the old enemy.

“Yes. I would like to play Germany. It would be nice to beat them,” said the 24-year-old.

“They played really well against Australia but there have not been any stand-out teams that I wouldn’t like to meet. It is wide open.”

While Saturday’s game involved barely a 15-minute journey to the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rooney and his team-mates have finally been given an opportunity to look at different scenery and take a different perspective.

“Once the World Cup starts there is a lot of focus and excitement back home,” said Rooney.

“It is brilliant for fans and good to see after games if we win.

“I don’t know that much about Algeria. We just need to concentrate on what we are doing because even if we are not at our best we can still win the game – and I am pretty confident we will.”