Alan Shearer believes Wayne Rooney needs a good World Cup campaign - TopicsExpress

Alan Shearer believes Wayne Rooney needs a good World Cup campaign if he can be compared to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as one of the best players in the world. Rooney heads to Brazil with the weight of a nation on his shoulders once again but question marks remain on whether the Manchester United striker can produce the goods on the international stage, with him yet to score a World Cup goal in two previous appearances. And while he has entered previous World Cups under an injury cloud, former England striker Shearer says it is time the 28-year-old finally delivers at footballs showpiece event, where Roy Hodgsons men will come up against Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica in Group D. Its a gap in the story of his career which he would like to fill, Shearer told reporters. But he probably hasnt yet gone to a World Cup in the best of fitness and you cant argue with his record at international level overall. But he needs to go out and have a big tournament. If he does that, he will be the key to us having a successful World Cup. When Rooney plays well, England play well. Im a Rooney fan. He ticks all the boxes as a player, but for him to be put in the same bracket as Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, he needs to have a great tournament in Brazil. Having said that, Messi has yet to set the place on fire at a World Cup as well. The Newcastle great, however, has backed Rooney to surpass Sir Bobby Charlton as Englands all-time leading goalscorer. Rooney has scored 38 goals for England, he said. Hes only 11 short of Bobby Charltons record and I think he will go on to break it.