Gerrard Rooney has to deliver goods in Rio

Steven Gerrard has singled out Wayne Rooney as the difference between success and failure for England at the World Cup Finals.

The skipper is desperate to end his third and final tournament on a high, but he candidly admits that so much of what he can achieve in Brazil rests in the hands of his fellow Scouser.

“If we’re to go to the World Cup and do well, we need Wayne Rooney firing,” says the Liverpool midfielder. “It’s the difference between us going home early or staying in the tournament for a long time.

“Teams that do well at World Cups always have a scorer who gets four or five goals. Wayne is the man capable of doing that for us because he’s in tremendous form. I hope he stays in form. It’s massively important.”

The Manchester United’s contribution was underlined by the fact that he scored seven times in just six Group H appearances, making it 16 goals in his last two World Cup qualifying campaigns.

Worryingly for Gerrard and England, though, Rooney has failed to score at either of the final tournaments he’s played in.

“If you’ve got a fit Wayne Rooney, who’s firing and scoring goals, you must have a better chance of progressing,” Gerrard insists.

“As captain of Liverpool, I’ve had some unbelievable nights and I want to have a fantastic memory with England. That’s why I wanted qualification so badly.

“I want to try to enjoy my last World Cup and get over that last-eight hurdle. That’s the key for me, to try to achieve more than the quarter-finals.

“I enjoyed the result against Poland in the end, but I didn’t enjoy the game because there was so much pressure.

“It was tense and anxious.

“Even at 1-0, you’re always thinking that a refereeing decision or a mistake or a bit of bad play and it could all swing the other way and you’re looking at play-offs.

“I said before the game that it was important to grasp this opportunity and we did.

“It’s difficult to put into words the amount of pressure we were under during those eight or nine days building up to the games.

“But after all the hard work that’s gone in over the two years ,and all the criticism we’ve taken along the way, it’s great relief that we’ve done it.”

Gerrard took on a captain’s responsibility when he forced his way through Poland’s defence to score the qualification-clinching goal in the final minutes on Tuesday.

But he admits that seeing the ball go in brought surprisingly little joy.

“I wanted to give the lads a breather because we stopped playing in the second half and they put us under pressure,” he says.

“Usually when you score big goals, it’s a feeling of elation. But this was different. It was just like a big weight fell off my shoulders.

“When we get out to Brazil, there are going to be similar games backs to the wall, under pressure, a lot of people expecting big things from us.

“But I think this squad is slowly improving.

“It’s a good blend of youth and experience and hopefully we can surprise a few.”