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Rooney’s got some way to go

How do Wayne Rooney’s international achievements stack up against the likes of Ali Daei, Stern John, and Jan Koller? Not all that well, it turns out.

How do Wayne Rooney’s international achievements stack up against the likes of Ali Daei, Stern John, and Jan Koller? Not all that well, it turns out.

With penalties against San Marino and Switzerland, Rooney equalled and overtook Sir Bobby Charlton’s England record this week, his tally rising to a half century of goals in 107 appearances.

Great praise has rightly been heaped on the Manchester United striker for scoring so many. Charlton’s record had stood a long time, and Rooney’s eventual haul will take some beating. His record has been compared favourably with the best two players on the planet in Lionel Messi (49 in 105 international games) and Cristiano Ronaldo (55 in 122), but there are plenty of others whose goalscoring proves that Rooney still leaves a lot to be desired.

Daei, of Iran, is the only player in footballing history with more than 100 goals in international matches, while legendary Hungarian Ferenc Puskas hit an incredible 84 goals in just 89 caps. Japan’s Kunishige Kamamoto struck 75 in 76; Gabriel Batistuta netted 56 times in 78 appearances; and Didier Drogba reached 65 in 104 games.

All of these players — and lots of others — boast superior goals per game rates at international level to Rooney. England’s captain has scored at a rate of 0.47 goals per appearance, with six coming from the penalty spot and San Marino his favourite opponent, five goals coming against the minnows.

There are, of course, all sorts of extenuating circumstances that one could use to qualify Rooney’s record. For one, substitutions are much more common these days, meaning Rooney would have completed 90 minutes far less frequently than those playing 20 or 30 years ago.

Secondly, the likes of Stern John of Trinidad and Tobago (70/115) will probably have poorer-quality opposition to thank for his outstanding international record.

Then there is the argument that it is simply more difficult to score for your country than it used to be, but let us not get into that unending debate.

The fact is that many from the same era as Rooney who have faced similar opposition have outscored him — see the list on the left.

Then there is Robbie Keane who, playing for an indisputably inferior Republic of Ireland team, has scored an international goal in each of the last 18 years. Rooney’s longevity has been praised, but here again he has nothing on Keane.

The LA Galaxy forward now has 67 goals in 142 games for Ireland, netting at the same rate as Rooney but over an extra 35 appearances. He overtook Niall Quinn as the Republic’s leading scorer 11 years ago, aged only 24, and now has more than three times as many goals as any other Irishman.

Rooney breaking Charlton’s record is a wonderful achievement in itself, but there is something to say for Rooney still having a fair amount to prove. He has time on his side, but cannot rely on penalties for many more goals. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Alistair Tweedale is Telegraph Sport’s data journalist

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