Rooney - We must improve

Striker insists national team must get better if it is to win World Cup

By Richard Bailey   Last updated: 12th November 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Rooney - We must improve

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Wayne Rooney believes England need to improve if they are to be considered serious contenders for the World Cup.

Fabio Capello's men cruised through to next summer's finals in South Africa after winning nine of their 10 qualification games - only losing to Ukraine in their penultimate match - but the 24-year-old says they can still get better.

The Manchester United forward highlights that England have shown weakness in friendlies in the past with the Three Lions struggling against the likes of Holland and Spain in the past year, although they have overcome Germany in Berlin in that time.

Rooney is almost certain to start against Brazil in the friendly in Doha on Saturday and the striker knows the team will have to play at their best if they are to beat the five-time World Cup winners.

"Of course we are in with a chance [of winning the World Cup]," he said.

"But there is a lot of hard work to do yet and there is a lot of improving that we have to do if we are going to win it.

"Our results have been better in qualification than they have in friendlies. We did beat Germany but Brazil are number one in the world and this is a massive game for us.

"We need to play some good football if we are going to win."