What Wayne Rooney told Gareth Southgate: England boss reveals content of their half-hour phone chat
International 'legend' rejected World Cup call but Southgate said: 'There was a role he could play in this squad but I fully understand'
GARETH SOUTHGATE has lifted the lid on the moment Wayne Rooney told him he no longer wanted to be considered for England.
The Three Lions manager wanted the Everton forward in his squad for the World Cup qualifiers with Malta and Slovakia.
But Roo, 31, an England veteran of 119 games and a record 53 goals, had other ideas.
Southgate contacted Rooney to firm up the team meeting details.
But while he appreciated the call, Rooney confirmed that he had decided he was going to announce his retirement.
Revealed Southgate: "We then talked for half an hour about the possible role I saw him fulfilling. I wanted to see if he had thought about it properly.
"He clearly had. He feels a sense of loyalty to Everton.
"I definitely was thinking of including him in this squad, there was a role he could play, but I fully understand his decision.
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"Is he a legend or isn’t he? If you are the most capped player and the record goalscorer I don’t know what else you have to do to become a legend."
Southgate added that there was never a problem dealing with his former captain - on issues both good and bad, and even dropping him.
He revealed: "He accepted the decisions with incredible humility, the conversations with him were always very good.
"Wayne has been a pleasure to work with and I am sure there can be some role for him to play with England in the future.
"Generally we are trying to engage former England players more than we did in the past.
"It’s important, that connection with former England players - our younger players get an insight into that.
"You can see he is in a really good frame of mind. I don’t see why you ever shut the door on anything as players."
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