Wayne Rooney insists that at no point did he ever consider quitting the England national team.


 The 24-year-old was touted to be one of the stars of the 2010 World Cup, but instead put in one poor showing after another as he failed to score during the tournament.

Arguably the Manchester United man's lowest point in South Africa came when he took a swipe at fans of the Three Lions as they booed the players.

Even skipper Steven Gerrard previously admitted to have come close to calling time on his international career after returning from South Africa, but the Liverpool-born hitman insists he had no such thoughts.

"I have never thought about quitting," Rooney said, according to The Mirror.

"I am 24. Steven is a bit older than me but I think there’s a couple of World Cups left in me yet.

"I’m very proud. For me, to play for England is the pinnacle of my career.

"In tournaments, we need to do better and I need to do better.

"I’m still young. I’ve still got time to put things right - and hopefully I’ll do that."

Concerning his ambitions with the Three Lions, the former Everton striker added: "I want to get as many caps as I can.

"But the most important thing is to try and get a piece of silverware with England, which would be the biggest achievement of my career if I managed to do so."

The striker also believes that with the Euro 2012 qualifiers under way, it is now time to bury the past.

He said: "Don’t let anyone think that the players weren’t disappointed. We were sat in the dressing room and it was horrible.

"We’ve got good players to do much better, that’s for sure. Everyone expects more and as players we also expected better performances, better results and we didn’t get them.

"It’s gone now. These things happen and you’ve just got to move on.

"We know we weren’t good enough so we have to put that right in the qualifiers coming up."

However, drawing a parallel with the past, England had a stellar qualifying campaign en route to the World Cup, but were unable to replicate such performances where it really mattered - amid questions concerning manager Fabio Capello's approach.

"Everything is still the same," he said. "The players never question Capello as a manager.

"He’s a great manager and we were more disappointed in ourselves that we did not do better for England. We know Capello is a great manager and I am sure under him we will qualify for the Euros and move on."

Capello made changes to his squad after a miserable World Cup, and his first-choice hitman reckons this bodes well with regard to the future of the Three Lions.

"The manager has brought a few younger players into the team and you can see their enthusiasm," he added. "In the last two games, we also seem to have got the shape right.

"I can’t tell you personally what the difference is but I am just happy that we have started the qualifying campaign so well.

"We just need to forget about the World Cup. We’re very excited.

"James Milner, Adam Johnson, who’s done really well, and obviously Jack Wilshire and Kieran Gibbs.

"There’s a few players with long international careers ahead of them and having them in the squad you can see the enthusiasm in them and it’s brought a few of the older players back to life."

England take on Montenegro on Tuesday, having won their opening two Euro 2012 qualifiers.