Wayne Rooney celebrated his final game in an England uniform as he helped his country score a dominating 3-0 victory over the United States in an international friendly on Thursday.
Two first-half goals helped England break out to a commanding early lead at Wembley, with Callum Wilson providing the final score in the 77th minute to put the match away.
USA Fails to Generate Chances
The United States failed to find many chances despite the fact that England mostly played a second-string lineup of younger players. Still, the Americans nearly took a lead in the 24th minute, when Borussia Dortmund star Christian Pulisic was through on goal, forcing a tough save out of English goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Soon after, England started to pull away from the United States. Jesse Lingard scored on a curling shot from the edge of the box in the 25th minute. Just two minutes later, Trent Alexander-Arnold netted the first international goal of his career to make the score 2-0.
With England in control, Rooney came off the bench to thunderous applause from the home crowd in the 57th minute. It was the 120th cap for the 33-year-old who now plays for DC United, and while he wasn’t able to get on the scoresheet, the match still provided a satisfying conclusion to his stellar international career.
Rooney Savors Final Match for England
Rooney received an award in a pre-game ceremony to recognize the former Manchester United star as England’s all-time leading goal scorer. Rooney scored 53 times in international play, but says he thinks he already knows who will break that record.
“Before playing the game I asked Harry Kane to present me with the award, because I believe he will beat my goal scoring record,” Rooney told reporters after the match. “I look forward to presenting him with the trophy in 10 years’ time.”
While the mood may have been celebratory for England, the match left American fans and officials with plenty of questions about their squad. Interim manager Dave Sarachan said that the quality of the England side proved difficult for his team to contend with.
“Their spacing, their movement, was very challenging for our group,” Sarachan said after the match. “As much as we watched and scouted England, it’s still on the players to sort through that. We just didn’t get around on the ball enough, didn’t get in on enough plays, makes for a tough half.”
Pulisic was even more direct in his criticism of the effort, saying that the USA must play better going forward if the team wants to compete with elite competition.
“We can talk about continuing to gain experience. That is not why we are here,” Pulisic told reporters. “We want to win now. We need to win these games. I’m a competitive guy and I know everyone else is in that locker room. It wasn’t good enough today.”
England next plays on Sunday against Croatia in a critical Nations League matchup. The United States faces another difficult test on Tuesday, when they face off against Italy in Belgium.