England hat trick hero Jermain Defoe credited partner Wayne Rooney for helping him score his three goals that got the Three Lions off to a fine Euro 2012 start against Bulgaria and claimed that the Manchester United star is a great player and technically gifted.
The pair laid into their qualifying group rivals from the start and Defoe got the Wembley crowd on their feet after only three minutes as England boss Fabio Capello avoided what could have been a nightmare start to the European Championship qualifiers after what proved to be a disastrous World Cup finals campaign in South Africa.
Defoe added his second after an hour and completed his treble four minutes from time, while Manchester City starlet Adam Johnson added a fourth for England in the 83rd minute.
Much villified United star Rooney swept away fears of being over the hill and overhyped after his World Cup nightmare by playing a part in all four of England’s goals and rightly shared the spotlight with his striker partner despite not finding the net himself.
“I’m delighted with the performance tonight, not just the goals but the way we played and pressed in the first half.” Defoe said.
“Obviously when you play with a partner it takes a bit of time to gel but Wazza is a great player and technically gifted.
“Like I’ve said before, if I make the runs he’ll find me and he did tonight.
“When I got the second he said ‘keep going and you’ll get the third’ and it’s always nice when you play with a partner and he wants you to get the hat-trick. It’s good.”
Defoe will expect to line up again with Rooney on Tuesday when England travel to Switzerland for their next Euro 2012 qualifier. The Spurs striker has been nursing a groin problem for much of the summer and postponed surgery in order to turn out for the national side.
Tags: Bulgaria, England, English Premier League, Euro 2012, European Championship, Jermain Defoe, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Wayne Rooney
