Wayne Rooney joined the rest of the England squad at St George’s Park on Monday ahead of his one-off comeback against the United States.
The 33-year-old will come off the bench in Thursday’s friendly to collect his 120th cap after the Football Association decided to honour his record-breaking international career.
Rooney, who with 53 goals is England’s all-time leading goalscorer, also holds more caps than any other outfield player.
— England (@England) November 12, 2018
He will be a substitute at Wembley but manager Gareth Southgate will give him minutes on the pitch in a match officially known as the Wayne Rooney Foundation International.
The DC United frontman has not played for England in almost two years and is not in contention for Sunday’s Nations League clash with Croatia.
Only Danny Welbeck is missing from the initial 28-man squad named by Southgate last week after the Arsenal forward broke his ankle in Thursday night’s Europa League draw with Sporting Lisbon.
The remainder of the squad joined together on Monday, with some going through a light training session.
After making his senior Three Lions debut as a 17-year-old, Rooney was still excited to be back on the scene some 15 years later, posting a message on Twitter ahead of meeting up with the squad.
“Looking forward to meeting up with the @England squad later today, always a huge honour. An exciting week for @FoundationWR!,” he wrote.
Looking forward to meeting up with the @England squad later today, always a huge honour. An exciting week for @FoundationWR! https://t.co/5X6Ef5QvxE 🏴❤️🦁 pic.twitter.com/syTvuTxhxx
— Wayne Rooney (@WayneRooney) November 12, 2018
Rooney is joined in the ranks by Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson, who earned his first senior call-up after a fine start to the season with the Cherries.
Tottenham full-back Kieran Trippier also reported for duty despite limping out of Saturday’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.
Southgate is expected to utilise his squad over the course of the two games, with a number of fringe players likely to be given a chance to shine in the United States friendly.
Rooney’s inclusion has been strongly backed by Southgate but has largely split opinion, with a number of former England internationals speaking out against the decision to award the former Manchester United man another cap.
His wife, Coleen, also took to social media to defend the FA’s approach to marking Rooney’s international achievements.
Can’t believe how much negativity there is going around ….Let’s celebrate each other’s achievements ….. A record was broken for the country after 50 years surely that deserves some sort of recognition.
— Coleen Rooney (@ColeenRoo) November 12, 2018
“Can’t believe how much negativity there is going around ….Let’s celebrate each other’s achievements ….. A record was broken for the country after 50 years surely that deserves some sort of recognition,” she wrote on Twitter.
“Sorry there is people being positive and that’s so nice …. however returned back to England today and been hit with all the negativity to why he shouldn’t get rewarded … welcome home”
After Rooney’s cameo on Thursday, Southgate’s side face Croatia at Wembley three days later in their final group stage match of the inaugural Nations League.
England followed up a goalless draw in Croatia last month with a memorable 3-2 win against Spain to leave Group 4 in the balance.
Spain and Croatia meet in Zagreb on Thursday and only after that will England know what the stakes are this weekend. At the moment, Southgate knows his side could be playing for a place in the finals of the competition or face relegation to League B for the next version of the tournament.
