Wayne Rooney is excited about Harry Kane's first England start in friendly against Italy
Wayne Rooney, just like the rest of the country, has been gripped by the excitement surrounding Harry Kane and the England captain cannot wait to link up with the striker against Italy.
Roy Hodgson confirmed Kane would make his full England debut in Tuesday's friendly at the Juventus Stadium.
In reality, the decision was a no-brainer for the England manager. After starting the season as third-choice striker for Tottenham, the 21-year-old's stock has risen rapidly and he is now among the front runners for player of the year after scoring 29 goals for the north London club.
The hype surrounding the forward rocketed even further on Friday when he scored his first international goal just 79 seconds after stepping off the bench in the 4-0 win over Lithuania.
And Rooney is licking his lips at the prospect of playing with the Spurs forward in Turin on Tuesday.
"I'm as excited as everyone in the country (about Kane)," Rooney said. "He's had an unbelievable season. Going into the season there were questions whether he would start for Tottenham."
"He was starting the Europa League games, but not the league games. But he gave his manager no option but to play him and he's not looked back, scoring goals every week.
"It's exciting for this group of players to train with him. After getting his goal on Friday, I bet he can't wait to get out on the pitch and try and get another goal.
"It's great for English football to have someone scoring so regularly in the Premier League and getting a goal on debut at international level. It's an exciting time for him and all of us."
It was telling that Rooney said the one England player he would have loved to have lined up alongside more than any other was Alan Shearer - the very man Kane is being compared to right now.
How exactly Kane fits into Hodgson's starting XI will not be revealed until Tuesday night, but there was a suggestion on the eve of the game that the two might not link up as a traditional front two.
Hodgson has always maintained he sees Kane as nothing but a traditional number nine, so there is little chance the player would be shunted out wide or in the number 10 role.
Rooney could end up playing there, just behind the Spurs striker in either a 4-2-3-1 formation or a 4-4-2 diamond, with Theo Walcott involved somewhere along the front line too.
"I haven't said Wayne Rooney is playing up front," Hodgson said. "Harry Kane is playing, so is Wayne. But I don't want to be pinned down to two front players with Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney."
"We might do something a bit different."
However England line up, the spotlight will be on Kane and Rooney knows it.
For that reason, the England captain will warn Kane the Italian defense will be out to get him.
Rooney had a hard time against Giorgio Chiellini during England's World Cup defeat to Italy in Manaus last summer and on Tuesday the Juventus defender will be accompanied by Andrea Ranocchia and Leonardo Bonucci.
The Azzurri have conceded just four goals since the World Cup and Rooney knows Kane will face possibly his toughest test yet on Tuesday night.
"With Italian defenders, especially the clever defenders, they'll do anything to try and stop you," Rooney added.
"I think Italy's a passionate country. They love their football, they are probably the closest in Europe to South American teams.
"They're tough to play against, well-organiszd, they make it as difficult as they can for us. Italy are the best in Europe at doing that.
"You need to be aware of that and not get frustrated. At the minute what Harry is doing he needs to continue doing.
"He's taking the ball, he's a handful for defenders, he's running at the defenders and getting shots off at goal.
"That's all he has to do tomorrow. I'm sure if he does that the way he has been, he'll be fine."
All 20 players left in Hodgson's squad have traveled to Italy, where England have not won since 1961.
Hodgson, who could employ Phil Jones in a holding midfield role, thinks his team have improved a lot since their 2-1 defeat in the jungle last summer.
"I don't feel we're lagging any more, or that other teams are moving forward faster than us. We're keeping pace," Hodgson said.
