Rooney: England can match anyone

Wayne Rooney is optimistic about England’s chances at Euro 2016 and feels they are capable of beating any opponent.

England have not made it past the quarter-finals of the European Championship since hosting the tournament in 1996, when they were beaten by eventual winners Germany on penalties.

Nevertheless, Rooney – his country’s all-time record goalscorer – believes this could be their year.

“I feel we’ve got a very good squad. It’s probably the first time I’ve felt the squad is capable in any given game of matching any team,” the Manchester United stalwart told Sky Sports.

“But obviously it’s one thing having that, and another being able to do that consistently throughout a tournament.

“We’ve got players who can play anywhere across that front line. Myself, Jamie Vardy, Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge can play out wide too. It’s always difficult for opponents as well. 

“You never know with the players we’ve got how well they can do. We’ve had a good European qualifiers campaign, but we need to make sure that we don’t slack, that we keep going and keep pushing forward, and give ourselves every possible chance.

“The good thing that Roy [Hodgson] has now is that he can look at the opponents and pick a midfield which is best for beating the opponent. We haven’t always had that. He could change the whole XI if he had to now and we would still have the chance of winning the game.”

England have been drawn with Russia, Wales and Slovakia in Group B.