WAYNE ROONEY was last night hailed as the 'crazy joker in the pack' by Fabio Capello.

Fabio hails his 'joker in the pack'


WAYNE ROONEY was last night hailed as the 'crazy joker in the pack' by Fabio Capello.

Rooney banished all memories of his red card last Saturday with a stunning two-goal show.

The England boss called Roo a 'crazy man' in the build-up to yesterday's 4-0 trouncing of Slovakia following the Manchester United star's sending off at Fulham.



But after seeing Rooney turn in a virtuoso display, Capello insisted: "Wayne is the joker in our pack, perhaps the crazy joker!

"He can play anywhere and is so important to us."

And England team-mate John Terry has tipped Rooney to smash every England record after watching his demolition of Slovakia.

The England skipper backed the striker to pass Sir Bobby Charlton's haul of 49 international goals.

And with Rooney in line for his 50th cap against Ukraine in Wednesday's World Cup qualifier, Terry reckons the Manchester United hitman will also eclipse Peter Shilton's 125 caps for his country.

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Terry said: "It's frightening to think he'll reach 50 caps at only 23. There's been a lot of talk about Becks this week, but I've said to Wayne, 'You could get to 150 caps'.

"It will be no problem for him to get to 100 quickly. He could have been nearly there already but he's missed some games with injury.

"When you talk about Bobby Charlton's record, his goals are there too. But it's Wayne's all-round play that is outstanding - you can see it in some of the moves out there. When you tell him to play, he's natural.

"There's been a lot of talk of Wayne's discipline, but everyone can see he's maturing on and off the pitch. You just need to let Wayne play and do what he's best at.


ROO BEAUTY - Wayne Rooney heads home his first goal

"On that form he's one of the world's best. It doesn't matter whether you're playing against him in training or on a computer game, he gets the hump if he doesn't win. That's how competitive he is and you never want to lose that in him.

"He gets at everyone if we're losing, but that helps us because we see that will to win."

Terry celebrated a milestone of his own with his 50th cap, then set his sights on emulating record breaker David Beckham, who reached 109 for his country, passing the great Bobby Moore's outfield record of 108.



Chelsea's skipper added: "I'm very proud to get to 50 caps. Maybe I was overshadowed a bit by Becks, but I don't mind that. It's great to get to 50 but, obviously, I hope to get many more.

"A hundred caps is my next target. When I first got in the England team, 50 was my target so now I have another."

The only disappointments in England's 4-0 rout were the injuries to strikers Emile Heskey, Carlton Cole AND Peter Crouch.

Heskey scored his first-ever goal at Wembley and his first for his country in six years. But the Aston Villa hitman then limped off after just 15 minutes with a thigh problem.

Frank Lampard scores for England
LIGHT UP - Frank Lampard scores for England

He was replaced by West Ham striker Cole but he lasted only 21 minutes and his replacement, Portsmouth's Peter Crouch, hobbled off 17 minutes from the end.

Three Lions boss Capello declared: "Please God, Rooney stays fit. He can play up front on his own if we need him to because he is such a special player.

"He played very well and we can't do without him."

Cole was last night ruled out of Wednesday's World Cup qualifying tie against Ukraine with an abductor muscle problem - with Spurs' Darren Bent called up in his place.

As for his other crocked forwards, Capello added: "Crouch should be OK for the next game. He had a knock on his back.

Becks and lamps
HAPPY - David Beckham congratulates Frank Lampard

"But Heskey needs a scan. He suffered cramp in his thigh and we will know the results on Sunday.

"I will also decide then whether to call up any other players to the squad. But we cannot call up Michael Owen. He has only played for 20 minutes for Newcastle. It is not enough."



Rooney capped an outstanding performance with his second-half brace and declared: "I'm enjoying my football and we played some great stuff.

"I feel I'm probably playing as well as I ever have for England. The formation with myself and Stevie Gerrard worked really well in the first half.

"You can see the manager's ideas in how we played. He wanted us to take the work in training on to the pitch and I felt we did it.

"It would be nice to get near some of the caps and appearances records, but I'll just be happy to be still involved with England for the next 10 years.

"I'm delighted I'm scoring goals for England and I've got no problem playing up front on my own if I'm asked to. I've done it before.

"It's not nice when you get injuries but, hopefully, those players will all be OK for Wednesday. Ukraine is a big game for us but this was the ideal preparation."