England captain Steven Gerrard is adamant that Wayne Rooney can be the leading man, not only for the national team, but for the entire World Cup tournament.

Plenty has been said and written about the Manchester United star in the lead-up to the finals in South Africa and Gerrard has chimed in with his thoughts, saying Rooney is capable of emulating the great exploits of players like Diego Maradona and Pele who have triumphed on the world stage in the past.

"I think he is in a position to do that," said Gerrard. "His confidence is sky high. He's physically in great shape.

"The stage is set for him to deliver, be England's main man and shoot us to glory. And he's aware of that. And the players around him make sure he's aware of it.

"The stage is set for Wayne. He is a fantastic age, he is in great shape and he is coming off the back of an unbelievable season, probably his best.

"I'm just delighted he is English and he is going to be leading us out there and we will be behind him. Hopefully he can be our main goalscorer and spur us on to victory.

"We have been working very hard and each day we are getting sharper and better and dealing with this altitude more and more, and I can see that in Rooney.

"The last couple of days he has been unbelievable in training. If the big players can perform at this World Cup I believe we can have success."