Wayne Rooney is excited by the pace and energy possessed by England, saying the best teams in the world will struggle to stop Roy Hodgson’s side if they can replicate their “unbelievable” displays in training.
Just four months on from their miserable World Cup exit, the Three Lions continue their campaign to win back the public this week in Euro 2016 qualifiers against San Marino and Estonia.
Neither side should pose much threat to Roy Hodgson’s men, although talk in the build-up to Thursday’s home match against San Marino has revolved around maintaining the standards set in the impressive win in Switzerland.
England’s youth, speed and energy inspired Hodgson’s men to victory in Basle and it sounds like the best is yet to come, with Rooney taken aback by the level of performance in training.
“Even today in training, it was unbelievable the amount of energy we’ve got in the team,” he said ahead of the San Marino match.
“The speed we can move the ball at and open teams, it’s really exciting to be a part of. If we can take that into games, then we will be a really hard team to stop.”
That intensity does not bode well for San Marino, ranked by FIFA as the world’s worst team alongside Bhutan.
England have scored an average 6.5 goals a game in their previous matches against the European minnows, so Thursday’s match looks the ideal opportunity for Rooney to add to his impressive goal haul.
The Manchester United captain is fourth in the all-time list and is just three goals shy of third-placed Jimmy Greaves’ total of 44.