Euro 2016

Peter Shilton: 'Wayne Rooney will struggle to reach 125 caps'

By Giuseppe Labellarte, Reporter | 16 November 2014

Ex-England goalkeeper Peter Shilton claims that Wayne Rooney may struggle to beat his record of 125 caps for the Three Lions as "he's not getting any younger".

England's record appearance holder Peter Shilton has claimed that Wayne Rooney will struggle to beat his tally because of the striker's advancing age.

The Three Lions skipper won his 100th cap in Saturday's 3-1 win against Slovenia, with manager Roy Hodgson later tipping him to overtake Shilton's record of 125 appearances for his country.

Legendary goalkeeper Shilton told BBC Sport: "If [the record] does go I will be the first to congratulate him, I still think it will be hard for him, but it's not impossible.

"When you get to the 29-30 mark mostly for strikers it's a little bit downhill, they can lose it fairly quickly. I remember Gary Lineker and Michael Owen seemed to go a little bit overnight.

"It's the hardest bit for him, he's not getting any younger, but if he does break it will be a pleasure to shake his hand and say well done."

In addition to the appearance record, Rooney is also being widely tipped to surpass Sir Bobby Charlton's goalscoring record of 49 strikes for England, having netted 44 times in his century of games to date.