Thursday, 28th August, 2014
England manager Roy Hodgson has confirmed Wayne Rooney will succeed Steven Gerrard as captain of the Three Lions.
Gerrard retired from international football and with it the captaincy after the end of the World Cup earlier this summer, with England having crashed out of the tournament at the group stage.
Now Hodgson has explained that Rooney will take over from Gerrard and lead England in their bid to qualify for the European Championship in 2016, which will be held in France.
Hodgson said via the BBC: "I gave it a lot of thought but Wayne is an obvious choice. He deserves it, his commitment to the cause, his experience. he has captained England in the past and has that responsibility at Manchester United.
"I'm pleased to say I've been able to offer it to him. I've had a long conversation with him and he's prepared to accept the pressures that the England captaincy brings.
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"It's important that the players wants to take on that enormous responsibility."
Rooney has won 95 caps for England so far, scoring 40 goals in the process.
The Manchester United star has also created 17 assists for his team-mates.
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