Wayne Rooney packs up his troubles and takes off for Switzerland

Tagged under: Euro 2012

Wayne Rooney packed up his troubles in his England kit bag and flew off to Switzerland with his team mates today. The Manchester United striker has been under intense scrutiny since allegations over his private life were made public yesterday. While front page headlines feature the seedy allegations published in Sunday newspapers, the back pages are speculating on the impact the scandal will have on England’s Euro 2012 qualifying campaign. Despite fears that he might miss the game against Switzerland in Basle on Tuesday night, it has been confirmed that Rooney is among the England squad that flew out today. The 25-goal England striker will train with the rest of Fabio Capello’s 22-man squad at St Jakob Park later today. The England coach will assess Rooney’s state of mind and as usual make a late announcement of the players to line up against Otmar Hitzfled’s Swiss team. Speculation that off-field worries had affected Rooney’s world cup performances has been rife despite his star performance when orchestrating the destruction of Bulgaria in Friday’s 4-0 win at Wembley. Hitzfeld anticipates his team will face Rooney, saying: “I expect Rooney to be on the pitch. “Fabio Capello is not able to leave a player of his class out. I am no psychologist but Wayne Rooney is looking sharp and I am sure he will perform well.” The German doesn’t believe in the latest World Cup theories being mooted, adding: “The only reason he (Rooney) didn’t do well in the World Cup was that he was injured beforehand and didn’t have time to make his fitness up in time for the tournament.” Bookmakers have been reacting to speculation over Rooney’s contribution on Tuesday and have eased the odds of him scoring in the game. Ladbrokes are offering odds of 9/2 for Rooney to the make more headlines by scoring the first goal of the game while Stan James are offering odds of 6/4 for him to get on the score sheet at any time. Bet365 are offering odds of 33/1 for Rooney to emulate Jermain Defoe’s Wembley exploits and net a hat-trick.

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