Fabio Capello Hails Wayne Rooney

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 -- England coach Fabio Capello has hailed striker [{Wayne Rooney]] and has said that he woudl become England's version of Raul.

Rooney is arguably the only world class striker England have these days and Capello thinks that he is indeed a brilliant player. Rooney was exceptional in England's 4-0 defeat of Slovakia in an international friendly at the weekend and is expected to play a key role against Ukraine in a World Cup qualifying match on Wednesday.

Italian hardliner Fabio Capello says that Rooney has the potential to become Englans's Raul and lead both his club Manchester United and his country to glory in the subsequent years. The England head coach AFP:

"Because of his movement, his passion and leadership on the pitch, he is very similar to Raul," AFP quotes Capello as saying.

"When I started at Madrid for the first time, Raul was 19. He was very young but he was already a leader on the pitch."

"Can Rooney be England captain? Why not? But you have to wait. Now we have a good captain in John Terry.

"I remember when Sir Alex Ferguson bought Rooney. I saw him at a UEFA meeting in Nyon and he said: 'Fabio, I am crazy, I have just spent an awful lot of money on a very young player.' But now he is happy because he has spent a lot of money on a very important player."