Euro 2016

Wayne Rooney: 'I overruled Roy Hodgson at Euro 2016'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 30 August 2016

England captain Wayne Rooney reveals that he went against manager Roy Hodgson's orders when taking over from Harry Kane as the corner-taker during Euro 2016.

England captain Wayne Rooney has revealed that he went against manager Roy Hodgson's orders during the team's group game against Wales at Euro 2016.

Hodgson had placed Harry Kane on corner duty for the opening match against Russia, with the Tottenham Hotspur striker taking all six during the game, much to the bemusement of many watching.

Rooney felt that the Premier League's Golden Boot winner should have been in a goalscoring position, and so made the call on the field to take over from Kane as the corner-taker against Wales.

"Roy obviously decided for Harry to take corners. I felt at the time that he was the top goalscorer in the Premier League and he's a big lad in the box," he told reporters.

"It was Roy's decision, but after the first game I don't think Harry wanted to take the corners so I went and took them. I felt I probably should have taken them anyway. He's probably better in the air than me and for the last season he had been scoring a lot of goals. So that was it really.

"I think players have the right to make decisions on the pitch. You make a decision on what you see on the pitch. Nothing was ever made of it. I don't think Roy had an issue with that."

New England boss Sam Allardyce today confirmed that Rooney will remain as England captain for the build-up to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, after which the Manchester United man plans to hang up his boots at international level.