Plaudits flood in for magnificent Rooney

Two days after he ripped the heart out of AC Milan at the San Siro the plaudits for Wayne Rooney - or "the English phenomenon" as he is now known in Italy - show no sign of letting up.

First the Italian press and David Beckham, the man who was supposed to be the centre of attention, heaped praise on him and the British press have continued the trend.

"Rooney has never lusted after individual awards, but if the Player of the Year and Footballer of the Year trophies were to be handed out tomorrow, he would win both by a landslide," writes Oliver Kay in the Times.

According to the Guardian's Daniel Taylor, "Rooney can take his place at football's top table with Lionel Messi, Kaká, Ronaldo et al", thanks to his performance in Italy.

Even the pundits agree. "Rooney's performance in the San Siro on Tuesday night showed us that he is now up there with the best in the world," writes Ruud Gullit in the Mail, althugh he warns that the player is still a "rough diamond." Despite that caveat, the same paper's football writers all put Rooney as number one in their lists of the top five players in the world.

And in the Telegraph Mark Ogden says the chances of United and England now rest on Rooney's shoulders. "For both club and country, it all revolves around Rooney. Lose him to injury or fatigue between now and July and hopes of success within Old Trafford and Wembley will plunge through the floorboards," he says.

But one of Rooney's vanquished opponents says the chances of him running out of steam between now and the World Cup are slim. Warming to his theme after Tuesday night's match Beckham said: "Burn out won't be a problem because Wayne is ready for any game. It doesn't matter how many games he has played or how many he will be involved in to the end of the season, he will be ready for anything. He can sustain that level until the middle of July... he is only 24, so he should be able to."

Perhaps the only thing that can stand in his way is another broken metatarsal, something both Rooney and Beckham know all about. ·