Agencies
London, Sept 9: An emotional Wayne Rooney became England’s all-time leading goal-scorer after netting his 50th international goal in a historic 2-0 victory over Switzerland at Wembley in a Euro 2016 qualifier Tuesday.
With England having already qualified for next year’s tournament, the stage was set for their captain to surpass Bobby Charlton’s 45-year-old mark of 49, which he had equalled in Saturday’s 6-0 win in San Marino.
After substitute Harry Kane broke the deadlock, the moment duly arrived in the 84th minute, Rooney crashing a penalty into Yann Sommer’s top-right corner and being rewarded with a standing ovation that left him wiping away tears.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Rooney. “I’ve been close for the last few games and it’s a dream come true. I was bit emotional. It’s a huge honour and one I am extremely proud of.”
Charlton, whose Manchester United record of 249 goals is also being eroded by Rooney, was quick to offer congratulations. “I would like to congratulate Wayne on becoming England’s leading goal-scorer,” the 77-year-old said in a statement.
In Skopje, defending champion Spain came one step closer to clinching a spot in the 2016 European Cup finals after defeating Macedonia 1-0.
The Spaniards now lead Group C with 21 points from eight matches and can assure themselves of winning the group with a victory against Luxembourg October 9.
Whereas in Stockholm, Martin Harnik scored twice as Austria qualified for the finals of the European Championship for the first time by thrashing Sweden 4-1 Tuesday.
Harnik netted a goal in each half, David Alaba chipped in a first-half penalty and Marc Janko also got on the scoresheet before Zlatan Ibrahimovic grabbed a late consolation for Sweden.
Russia thrashed Liechtenstein 7-0 in Vaduz with Artem Dzyuba scoring four goals Tuesday as they got their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign firmly back on track with two wins out of two under new coach Leonid Slutskiy. The victory moves Russia into second place in Group G, two points ahead of Sweden.
