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Top 20 England players of all time - #6

Sports Mole's countdown of the top 20 England players of all time continues with number six - Wayne Rooney.

Wayne Rooney (119 caps, 53 goals)

England's forward Wayne Rooney (R) celebrates after scoring past Uruguay's goalkeeper Fernando Muslera during the Group D football match on June 19, 2014© Getty Images

The only player still active at international level on this list, Wayne Rooney burst onto the England scene in 2003 and has since forged a record-breaking career for the Three Lions.

The 31-year-old's omission from the latest squad suggests that he must find more regular football at club level if he is continue his England career, but he has already left an indelible mark on the history of the national team.

Sir Bobby Charlton's goalscoring record stood for 45 years before Rooney became the first player to net 50 goals for England, and he has since increased that tally to 53 at the time of writing.

The striker is also the most capped outfield player in England's history with 119 international appearances, leaving him just six behind all-time record holder Peter Shilton - a tally he looks like beating if he can work his way back into the squad.

Having announced himself in style with Everton in the Premier League, Rooney became the youngest England player of all time when he made his debut aged just 17 in 2003, and by the time Euro 2004 came along he was already an integral part of Sven-Goran Eriksson's team.

Indeed, having scored four goals in the tournament it was his injury in the quarter-final against Portugal which many regarded as the main reason behind England's exit - and it was a similar story two years later when a red card against the same opponents contributed towards England crashing out of the 2006 World Cup.

It took until 2014 for Rooney to score his first ever goal at the World Cup finals, though, and the Manchester United man has often been criticised for failing to fulfill his potential on the biggest stage despite his record-breaking career.

There have been similar criticisms at club level - particularly in recent years - but Rooney is United's leading goalscorer of all time having also overtaken Charlton in that category, scoring 253 goals in 559 appearances for the Red Devils.

During that time Rooney has won five Premier League titles, the Champions League, the FA Cup, three League Cups and the Europa League - the latter of which completed a clean sweep of the trophies available to him at Old Trafford.

Rooney also won the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year double in 2010 and, despite his recent struggles at club level, still has time to add more accolades to an already lengthy list.

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal28204470244664
2Liverpool28197265263964
3Manchester CityMan City28196363283563
4Aston Villa29175760421856
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs28165759421753
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd28152113939047
7West Ham UnitedWest Ham2912894650-444
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2811985044642
9Wolverhampton WanderersWolves28125114244-241
10Newcastle UnitedNewcastle281241259481140
11Chelsea27116104745239
12Fulham29115134344-138
13Bournemouth2898114152-1135
14Crystal Palace2878133348-1529
15Brentford2975174154-1326
16Everton2887132939-1025
17Luton TownLuton2957174260-1822
18Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest2967163551-1621
19Burnley2945202963-3417
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd2835202474-5014


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