Soccer

Wayne Rooney equals goalscoring record as England seal qualification

Manchester United striker taken off early after scoring 49th international goal from spot

Wayne Rooney slots home from the penalty spot to equal Bobby Charlton’s mark of 49 goals in the Euro 2016 Group E qualifier against San Marino at Stadio Olimpico in Serravalle. Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images via Reuters/Livepic

Sat Sep 5 2015 - 20:37

San Marino 0 England 6

Roy Hodgson denied Wayne Rooney a chance to break Bobby Charlton's record but the England captain did equal his hero's 49-goal tally as they sealed qualification for Euro 2016 with victory over San Marino.

Rooney looked set to pass Charlton’s record when he scored his 49th England goal from the penalty spot in the 12th minute.

But in a bizarre move, Hodgson took Rooney off in the 58th minute, therefore robbing him of a chance to bring up his 50 in the 6-0 win.

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Cristian Brolli scored an own goal and Ross Barkley headed in his first England goal before Theo Walcott grabbed a couple off the bench and Harry Kane netted to seal the win.

After an embarrassingly early World Cup exit, Hodgson has done incredibly well to make it to Euro 2016 with three matches to spare.

After seven wins from seven, England are the first team to qualify, and have gone 12 matches unbeaten for the first time since 1996.

But the main talking point from the game will be Hodgson’s decision to take Rooney off with the record so close.

The 29-year-old will now have to wait until Tuesday’s home game against Switzerland to bring up his half-century.

“Obviously it is a proud moment for me to equal Sir Bobby’s record and my aim now is to push on, to help the team get the victory on Tuesday night and try to break that record to become the outright holder,” said Rooney.

Hodgson confirmed it was pre-planned to give Rooney a breather.

“We wanted to protect one or two players. Some did not start the game and it was in our thoughts all along we would try to keep Wayne on for 45 to a maximum of 60 minutes because also Harry Kane is another who needed to get some football, so it is a perfect situation really.

“We have taken off three important players who will be important on Tuesday night, and some others did not even start the game and one or two others who were not necessarily in contention to start on Tuesday night have had good games tonight. Jonjo Shelvey really does deserve a mention to play almost as faultlessly as he did for 90 minutes, that was a good performance.”

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