ROONEY COULD BE MOST CAPPED

‘Rooney turns 20 in two weeks’ time and he already boasts 26 full England caps and ten goals. At Rooney’s age, Gascoigne had zero caps. And Gazza only won his 26th cap after his 26th

At this stage of his career, only Pelé could be said to be ahead of Rooney —and even then, he had won three fewer caps. The Brazilian had 23 caps and an outrageous 25 goals before his 20th birthday. Diego Maradona’s 20 caps and eight goals come close to Rooney, as does Norman Whiteside (21 caps, seven goals) and Robbie Keane (18 caps, six goals).

Rooney dwarfs his contemporaries — Cristiano Ronaldo (11 caps, five goals), Ronaldinho (14 caps, eight goals) and Fernando Torres (six caps, one goal); the generation before — Ronaldo (13 caps, five goals), Patrick Kluivert (ten caps, four goals), Raúl (seven caps, one goal); and the all-time greats, regardless of whether they are British — Duncan Edwards (nine caps, one goal), Denis Law (six caps, one goal), Stanley Matthews (two caps, one goal); or foreign — Marco van Basten (four caps, two goals), Franz Beckenbauer (two caps, no goals) and Johan Cruyff (two caps, one goal).

In fact, the stats men will tell you that, at his present pace, he will win his 100th cap around his 28th birthday and beat Peter Shilton’s record of England appearances (125) just after he turns 31. And then? Why stop there? If he keeps going, he’ll win his 150th cap, breaking Lothar Matthäus’s record for European players. He can do that before he turns 34. Breaking the all-time record of 173 caps — held by Mohamed Al-Deayea, of Saudi Arabia — will be somewhat more challenging, but, if he really wants to do it, he is due to catch him by 2022, when he will be 37.’