Juan Mata has backed his Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney to set an England goalscoring record that will be hard to beat.
The England skipper converted a penalty in England’s 6-0 win over European minnows San Marino to equal Sir Bobby Charlton on the list of top goalscorers for England.
The win over San Mario also booked England’s place in next summer’s European Championship and Mata is impressed with the way the Three Lions have stormed into the tournament.
England have a perfect record in the Euro 2016 qualifiers and Mata feels Roy Hodgson’s men will be one of the contenders for the tournament in France next summer.
“I would like to congratulate England for becoming the first team already qualified for the Euro 2016”, Mata wrote on his blog for Kicca.
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“They have good players in every line and I'm sure they're going to be one of the main rivals in France.”
Rooney needs one more goal to go past Charlton and become the top goalscorer for England. The Spaniard feels his Manchester United team-mate will set a record that will be tough to beat for any England striker in the future.
Mata acknowledged that the Manchester United captain is one of the best footballers of his generation.
“Special congrats to my team-mate Wayne Rooney for equalling Sir Bobby Charlton as England's leading all-time goalscorer.
“Wayne is one of the best players I've ever had as a team-mate, and I'm sure he's going to set a record very difficult to beat in the future.”
England take on Switzerland tomorrow at Wembley and all eyes will be on Rooney as he looks to score his 50th international goal, which will make him his country’s top goalscorer.
