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Wayne Rooney will return to the England squad this week for the friendly match against the United States with the Football Association to honor the nation's top scorer for his efforts over his long career.
Gareth Southgate made the surprise decision to recall Rooney, who retired from international football last year, during the friendly match at Wembley on November 15th. The 33-year-old is expected to be among the substitutes, but the intention is to convince him to win his 120th selection and try to add to his record of 53 goals. The DC United striker should not be captain.
The game is intended to raise funds for the Wayne Rooney Foundation, which seeks to raise more than £ 500,000 for various children's charities, including the NSPCC. This decision may, however, lead to accusations that the Russian Federation devalued the match three days before the potentially decisive match between England, the League of Nations and Croatia, in the same place. The Southgate team could still aspire to overtake the group of three teams based on the result of the Croatian match against Spain in Zagreb the same night as the English friendship against the United States.
The governing body and the national lead take into account these unique circumstances, or even a unique opportunity. They will compare that to Germany's Lukas Podolski clash with England in Dortmund last year as they pulled out after 130 caps. Or, indeed, the Netherlands offered Wesley Sneijder his 134th and last win against Peru in September.
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None of these players had been absent from the scene at this level as long as Rooney, who announced his retirement in August 2017 after refusing the opportunity to be part of the group for the World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Slovakia. The FA, however, was keen to recognize Rooney's accomplishments alongside the national team, particularly because of the team's rather abrupt nature of retirement.
Southgate, which announces its team on Thursday, hopes that the presence of former Everton and Manchester United striker at St George's Park during the match preparation for the United States will have a good influence on the youngest players on this team, like Jadon Sancho Mason Mount and James Maddison were included in the evening that took place in Croatia and Spain last month.
Rooney's career with England lasted nearly 14 years and included incursions under six managers. He made his debut in February 2003; he was captain in 23 of his 119 selections. He has been in a prolific form since coming to Major League Soccer this summer, scoring 12 goals in 18 starts for DC United to propel them from the bottom of the table to the play-offs of the end of the season. However, his shot at goal in the playoff match against Columbus Crew allowed his team to be defeated in the first round.
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