Wayne Rooney is a 'once in a generation player': Lionel Messi

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has hailed Wayne Rooney as one of the greatest players of his generations after the Manchester United skipper became England’s all-time leader in goal scores. Rooney scored from a penalty kick late in the second period of a Euro 2016 qualifier match at Wembley to give England a 2-0 win over Switzerland.

Messi, also considered one of the greatest players in his generation, praised Rooney for achieving a historical feat, saying that the Englishman is “not comparable” to any other players.

“Wayne Rooney is for me a once in a generation player,” Messi told the Mirror. “There are many special players, but Rooney has exceptional quality and technical ability as well as being one of the strongest players I have faced with an exceptional work rate - there is nobody like him.”

Messi also dismissed claims that Rooney is not a word-class footballer. The Argentine international believes the 29-year-old Rooney is a winner, putting personal records behind his focus on success with England in the European Championship.

Rooney became England’s leading scorer on Wednesday after scoring his 50th international goal, eclipsing Sir Bobby Charlton’s record of 49 goals in 106 appearances. However, former England footballer Gary Lineker is convinced Rooney could still set the bar for the all-time record of goal scores.

Lineker, who scored 48 goals for England and is third in all-time list, said Rooney’s international record would last for “at least a decade,” since getting that many goals would require a footballer to play for a long time. He also revealed that Rooney has been pretty consistent in terms of goal scoring since he started his professional football career.

"It's going to be a long time before anyone gets close to Wayne," Lineker told BBC. "He's still going so could take it to 60 or 70 if he maintains his fitness."

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