Wayne Rooney urges England to give the fans something to remember at Euro 2016

James Olley9 June 2016

Wayne Rooney has urged England to create positive memories for the nation at Euro 2016.

The striker, who will captain his country for the first time at a major tournament, is well versed in the biennial disappointment England often suffer.

Rooney, 30, was part of the squad that produced England’s worst World Cup performance since 1958 after two defeats and a draw left them bottom of the group two years ago in Brazil.

England have not reached the semi-final in any competition since Euro 96 and Rooney is desperate to give supporters something to cheer this summer.

“I’ve been excited for it,” he said. “The longest time in tournaments is always those few weeks in the build-up to the first game and we’re within touching distance of that first game now.

“You can sense the excitement around the team and around the team hotel and I think you sense that excitement around the country — certainly the fans are doing that but the players are doing exactly the same. We’re the ones going out on the pitch and we’re the ones who have to go and do it, so hopefully we can and we’ll give everyone good memories.”

On Monday the squad were welcomed to their team hotel by the Mayor of Chantilly Eric Woerth, who told them the region was “a small part of England in France” because of its links with British horse racing.

The following day, at an open training session at their Stade de Bourgognes base, the players were greeted by a group of local children who sang God Save The Queen.

The serene start to the competition has not been lost on Rooney. He said: “It’s great when the locals give you a warm welcome and we’ve certainly had that.

“At the training ground it was nice to have a lot of kids showing support and to sign a few autographs to thank them.”

England Euro 2016 Open Training

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England trained behind closed doors this morning as they look to finalise preparations for Saturday’s opener against Russia.

Ryan Bertrand was hopeful of stepping up his involvement, with Roy Hodgson now likely to have a fully fit squad to choose from. Chris Smalling yesterday dismissed rumours of an injury scare by insisting bandaging on his knee was a regular recovery method.

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