England football manager Roy Hodgson has compared Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney as English football's version of Hollywood A-list stars Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson.
Rooney has failed to shine for the Three Lions at a major tournament since breaking through as a teenager at Euro 2004, although Hodgson believes he has now assembled a support cast to help Rooney flourish.
According to the Mirror, Hodgson feels that it will be less burdensome on Rooney to score and create goals at this World Cup because of his young attacking teammates like Daniel Sturridge, Raheem Sterling, Adam Lallana and Ross Barkley.
Comparing the situation to the one faced by Hollywood stars, Hodgson said that each star starts as a non-entity until suddenly, he/she starts getting good reviews and turn into major stars like Pacino or Nicholson, adding that it then becomes a must to make good films.
Hodgson also said that Rooney can now go ahead and concentrate on making personal records along with creating success for his team, with Hodgson saying that he has no concerns over his 'talisman's' condition this time, despite Rooney taking two fitness coaches with him on holiday to Portugal this week.
Rooney was suspended for the first two matches of Euro 2012 and went into the previous two World Cups with serious injury issues, the report added.