Huge congratulations to England record breaker Wayne Rooney.
He has had his critics over the years, but there can be no arguing over the record he now holds – 50 international goals for his country and one more than Sir Bobby Charlton.
To consistently perform at the top level and score goals as easily as he has is a God-given gift.
It’s not something anyone can ever be taught.
I came from the goalscorers’ school, although I was much more of a poacher in the six-yard box than the all-round player which Rooney is, but the fundemental task of putting the ball in the back of the net is the hardest job on a football field.
It’s why goalscorers get paid the most money. Your team might be up against it for basically a whole match, but your striker might get one chance and stick it in the net – that’s why forwards are loved so much by fans all around the world.
Rooney probably hasn’t hit the heights which many pundits thought he might in the early years of his career, but he is still a top, top player.
One of his biggest problems is that whenever he has gone to World Cups, he has been stuck on the sponsors’ advertising alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
When you see him alongside the best two players in the world, the assumption is (and what the sponsor is trying to get you to believe) that Rooney is up there with them, or maybe third or fourth.
He isn’t.
He is a very, very good player when he’s playing at the top of his game, and this perception created by sponsors is probably an unwelcome burden of expectation on Manchester United’s No10.
He has now gone 864 minutes without a goal for his club, and I’m sure the first thing he will be hoping is that Liverpool give away a penalty this weekend, so that he can take advantage of the easiest chance of the game to end that bad run.
I have huge respect for him, simply because of what it takes to stay at the top of your game.
It doesn’t matter if you are being paid £50 a game, £1,000 or £100,000, the mental attitude you have of being a winner is crucial.
And no matter where Rooney has played, he has always performed like a young kid, with enthusiasm and energy, and long may that continue as he now heads towards Peter Shilton’s England appearance record.
Just a final word for Huddersfield Town. It’s been a tough start to the season, but there are some new faces around now and one great result – like a win at Cardiff – is all it needs to bring the belief flooding back.
