Wayne Rooney praises 'brilliant' Steven Gerrard

Wayne Rooney has praised Steven Gerrard following the midfielder's impressive performance during England's 1-0 win over the Ukraine.

The Manchester United forward described his international teammate as "brilliant" and claimed that the Euro 2012 victory was the best game of his career.

"[Gerrard] has been brilliant for us, he's leading by example and his performance yesterday (Tuesday) was one of his best performances in an England shirt," Rooney told the FA's official website.

"It's important that he keeps playing the way he is because he's a massive player for us. He'll be really important going into the knock-out stages."

Gerrard supplied the cross that led to Rooney's winner against the tournament's co-hosts, his third assist of the competition.

England will take on Italy in the quarter-finals on Sunday (June 24).