Wayne Rooney praised the performance of Marcus Rashford after his former Manchester United teammate inspired England to victory against Wales at the World Cup.
Rashford scored twice in the second half as the Three Lions thrashed their neighbours 3-0 in Qatar to qualify top of Group B. Gareth Southgate’s side will play Senegal in the last 16 following an excellent second-half performance.
That performance was led by Rashford, who smashed in a powerful free-kick to open the scoring before squeezing a second through Danny Ward’s legs to make it 3-0 after Phil Foden's tap-in. Rashford could even have scored more, with two other big chances in either half.
England's record goalscorer Rooney was quick to pay tribute to Rashford after the final whistle blew in Doha. "Yes @england. Quality lads. Brilliant performance @MarcusRashford," he tweeted alongside three clapping emojis.
Former England and United defender Rio Ferdinand was another prominent figure to praise Rashford’s performance, which came after he came off the bench in the opening two matches.
"All of this stems from one element - working hard and getting back to basics," he said on the BBC. "Off the ball pressing, he didn't look happy for a while. When you've got a smiling, hard-working, confident Marcus Rashford he's a devastating player. Game-changer.
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"And every time he's faced up the full-back today, I heard Ash [Williams] say he looks scary. As a defender you get us in one-vs-ones, he’s got the pace to go past you, the imagination, and he can finish.
"But it all stemmed from the basics fundamentally of football which is graft and hard work. When you look at him now I think of the big players around the world and in this tournament, they'll be looking at Marcus Rashford and thinking wow, that Marcus Rashford, he's playing himself into the team."
Former England striker Gary Lineker went as far as comparing Rashford to Brazil star Vinicius Jr, who plays the same position as the United man. "Marcus Rashford, what a turnaround," he said.
"He's said himself he's probably not have performed his best, he gets distracted off the field, he's come back this season and gradually got his way back into the Manchester United team, this is the Rashford that is a threat, he's dangerous.
"When he plays like this – yes it might not happen but he's going past players, beating players, having attempts on goal, a little bit similar to Vinicius Jr where they recognise that they might give the ball away, but they recognise the talent and encourage it."
