TERRY: WE MUST NOT CHANGE ROONEY
England captain John Terry has backed Wayne Rooney to use his passion for football and his country to help England have a successful week at Wembley.
Ahead of England's friendly at Wembley against Slovakia the centre-back, who is due to make his 50th appearance for the Three Lions on Saturday, backed the Manchester United striker to channel his aggression on the pitch.
The 28-year-old said: "Some players are born like that; with that passion and fire inside their belly. Wayne has certainly got that. I think if we try and take that away he won't be the player he is. He is world-class - let's let him get on with his football and let his football do the talking.
"He is still young, he is still learning - but what a player he is! Wayne knows his limits. We have seen him calm down over the years - he has grown up. He is playing well for Manchester United and England and that is the main thing we want.
"The key is to keep him fit, keep him well and keep him on the ball. If you get Wayne Rooney on the ball he can create all sorts. He scores goals and brings people in to play. If you keep him fit England have a great chance."
On the game on Saturday evening, which is due to attract a sell-out Wembley crowd, Terry added: "It has been a long time coming, but I'm delighted to hopefully getting my 50th cap for England. I have my family coming, so I am very much looking forward to it.
"We will go out fully-focused. We are playing well at the moment, but we had a little bit of a shock in our last game, against Spain (when England lost 2-0) - but that was an eye-opener and we can learn from that. We are looking to improve things at home in front of our home fans.
"The manager (Fabio Capello) does not treat friendlies lightly and neither will the players - we will going out there to win. They are top of their World Cup qualifying group and are going well. It is going to be a tough test. We can learn a lot about this game and take it in to Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Ukraine."
England captain John Terry has backed Wayne Rooney to use his passion for football and his country to help England have a successful week at Wembley.
Ahead of England's friendly at Wembley against Slovakia the centre-back, who is due to make his 50th appearance for the Three Lions on Saturday, backed the Manchester United striker to channel his aggression on the pitch.
The 28-year-old said: "Some players are born like that; with that passion and fire inside their belly. Wayne has certainly got that. I think if we try and take that away he won't be the player he is. He is world-class - let's let him get on with his football and let his football do the talking.
"He is still young, he is still learning - but what a player he is! Wayne knows his limits. We have seen him calm down over the years - he has grown up. He is playing well for Manchester United and England and that is the main thing we want.
"The key is to keep him fit, keep him well and keep him on the ball. If you get Wayne Rooney on the ball he can create all sorts. He scores goals and brings people in to play. If you keep him fit England have a great chance."
On the game on Saturday evening, which is due to attract a sell-out Wembley crowd, Terry added: "It has been a long time coming, but I'm delighted to hopefully getting my 50th cap for England. I have my family coming, so I am very much looking forward to it.
"We will go out fully-focused. We are playing well at the moment, but we had a little bit of a shock in our last game, against Spain (when England lost 2-0) - but that was an eye-opener and we can learn from that. We are looking to improve things at home in front of our home fans.
"The manager (Fabio Capello) does not treat friendlies lightly and neither will the players - we will going out there to win. They are top of their World Cup qualifying group and are going well. It is going to be a tough test. We can learn a lot about this game and take it in to Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Ukraine."
Labels: England, John Terry, Slovakia, Spain, World Cup 2010
