Wayne Rooney: I won’t play in England again

By Simon Peach

Wayne Rooney says there is no chance he will play football again in England.

The 33-year-old will make a one-off international comeback appearance for England against the United States tomorrow (8pm kick-off), where he now plays for DC United.

There has been talk about Rooney making a loan move back to the Premier League during the MLS off-season — similar to Robbie Keane at Aston Villa — but Rooney dismissed the idea yesterday.

“I made the decision to obviously go to the States, and when I make a decision then I tend to stick with it,” he said.

“It’s important to me that I give my full commitment to DC, so obviously I’ve seen talk of a loan move back here, which I’m not prepared to do.

“I’m finding my feet in the States and my children now go to school there, so it wouldn’t be fair on them for me to come back and have them moving back and forward. No (there is no chance I will come back to English football), I’ll finish my career there.”

Rooney says he understands why his international return has divided opinion. No outfield player has represented the Three Lions more than the 33-year-old, yet the announcement of his one-off comeback appearance has been met by some disapproval.

All-time cap holder Peter Shilton and former interim England boss Stuart Pearce have been among the high-profile critics of the decision to recognise Rooney’s contribution with a 120th and final cap, two years after his last appearance against Scotland.

The forward is not letting that background noise detract from a friendly that will support the Wayne Rooney Foundation, with the forward honoured to be recognised in a way that he hopes future stars will get the chance to follow.

“I think everyone is entitled to their opinions,” said Rooney.

“The most important thing is, speaking with the FA, we both felt it was right.”

“The players obviously who I have spoke to and the FA (I) have spoken to, they agreed, they think it is right.

“As a country, obviously we haven’t done anything like this before. It’s the first time. I hope that in 10, 15 years’ time, we’re sat here for someone, say Harry Kane, who could possibly go on and get the goal-scoring record.

“Then it will be something that happens again and of course it’s something different. I am not asking people to agree with it.”