This mismatch was approaching its hour mark when the substitutes’ board was hoisted to reveal Wayne Rooney’s number was up. The England captain, perhaps half-expecting to retreat, flung the armband to Jonjo Shelvey and briefly assured his marker, the over-worked Davide Simoncini, that he could seek him out post-match to swap shirts. There was a clap to the arena’s two stands but that record, which has been tantalisingly within his grasp for so long, will have to be broken back at Wembley on Tuesday.
The smattering of boos from the English support massed on the opposite side of the ground reflected the fact Roy Hodgson’s decision was surprising. San Marino, starved of possession and leggy on a horrible playing surface, were always likely to wilt late on and the chance Rooney so craved to register his half-century of international goals felt mere minutes away.
As it is, the manager’s desire to protect him for a few more days ensured this was the evening the striker drew level with Sir Bobby Charlton at the top of his country’s scoring charts, albeit to be swiftly joined by own goals, also on 49, courtesy of Cristian Brolli’s inadvertent glance beyond Aldo Simoncini. Switzerland will be less accommodating. Even so, that three-way tie at the top should not be maintained for long.
Perched on a stool in the prefab television studio, football boots swapped for flip-flops and socks tugged up to his knees, Rooney spoke of his pride at drawing level with Sir Bobby. He suggested it would be apt to bring up his half-century at Wembley given the stadium’s “tradition”, and even offered up the selfless claim that he “would swap all these goals for a winner’s medal next summer”.
That was telling. Some will always demote his achievements below those of Charlton, whose illustrious career included lifting the World Cup. If England claim a major trophy with Rooney it would constitute quite a surprise, though he cannot be held solely responsible for the shortcomings of a generation. There have been 43 players who have registered 50 goals for their country. He should be hailed a great when he becomes the 44th. Yet, for all his positive spin, he must have yearned to have boarded the flight home with the record as his own. His reward here came early, with even England’s players perplexed the shrill of Leontios Trattou’s whistle was announcing the award of a penalty 12 minutes in when the more obvious offence had appeared to be John Stones’s handball.
Yet the Cypriot had spied a push from Marco Berardi and, while San Marino protested, Rooney’s stood in calm isolation just outside the area, his focus fixed on the opportunity ahead. Once the officials had reimposed some order the striker placed the ball, whipped up that familiar scuttle on the spot to generate some momentum and stroked his fifth England penalty into the corner. There was a look to the heavens, a broad grin and an acknowledgement to his family up in the stand, but that was where his personal haul ended. Aldo Simoncini denied him another and, when he failed to reach Jamie Vardy’s in-swinging centre early in the second half, his chance had gone for the night. A record that has stood for 45 years will not be broken for a few days yet.
“But one thing is for certain: he will break it,” Hodgson said. “If it’s on Tuesday, great. If not, maybe it will be in November. If not, in 2016. This wasn’t his last and only chance. If this had been last game for England and he’d needed one more goal, I promise I wouldn’t have taken him off.”
As it is, Sir Bobby might even be in attendance to acknowledge the handover in person. Rooney will deserve his moment, even if some still bemoan the fact he has not illuminated a major tournament since 2004, back when he was a relative unknown. It is true that, in major finals since, Rooney has invariably cut a more anguished performer but he is still England’s third-highest scorer at tournaments. No one can match his 29 goals in qualifying, and his international ratio stands up to scrutiny with those of Lionel Messi (48 in 104) and even Cristiano Ronaldo (55 in 120), the players whose staggering club records at Barcelona and Real Madrid eclipse his own at United. Perhaps he simply developed too early, that goal rasped beyond David Seaman from distance in the din of Goodison Park in October 2002 having set a tone which ensured expectations were always unrealistically high.
The 29-year-old is no longer the tearaway of his youth, that irresistible blur of energy and fearless intent, but a team player whose priority is more the good of the collective. Where once he sought to energise the Golden Generation, now he is the experienced older head to whom Hodgson turns when blooding such as Ross Barkley and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Shelvey and Luke Shaw. The record will be his alone soon enough. Thereafter it will be a matter of just how far he can extend it. Regardless, it will take some breaking.
