After England's players attempted to play down any thoughts of revenge before the Croatia clash, Wayne Rooney was happy to admit it was a prime motive as he played a key role in a remarkable 4-1 win. But then again, our Mr Rooney is never one to mince his words !!
In an exclusive interview with Setanta Sports, "our Wayne" paid tribute to Theo Walcott, describing the hat-trick hero as the fastest player he has ever seen.
Rooney scored the other goal in Zagreb as Fabio Capello's side inflicted Croatia's first-ever home defeat in competitive football.
"As I've said before, the friendly games have all been progress for us trying to qualify for the World Cup and, with a bit of revenge in mind, it was a great performance from us and a great result. In the friendlies, we tried different things and Andorra are difficult to play against as they put 11 men behind the ball but we knew Croatia would come and be a tough game for us. We defended really well and took our chances - that's the main thing. I think Theo was brilliant. He gives us something different and is probably the quickest player I've seen. He showed glimpses of what he can do against Andorra and got three great goals tonight so I'm very pleased for him. He can be brilliant. Sven [Goran Eriksson] saw his talent and was brave enough to select him for the World Cup in 2006. It's been a bit of a roller-coaster for him over the last two years and he hasn't always played for Arsenal but hopefully, after the last two performances, he can get a solid place in the Arsenal team."
Rooney paid tribute to the supporters for making the trip to Zagreb and getting behind the team. They actually managed to go a whole game without booing the team !!
"Of course we enjoy a 4-1 victory especially after what Croatia did to us in the last qualifying campaign. The players are so pleased and I'm sure the fans are the same. You've seen the fans in Andorra and tonight and they were brilliant. There's lots over here and I think the players know the fans have waited a long time to see a good performance like that. We're all pleased we've done that for them. The main thing is three points in tonight's game and the next few games, hopefully we can take this form into the next game."
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