England: James reflects on Rooney struggles

Wayne Rooney is returning home early from the World Cup after failing to score in the tournament - and David James knows the reason why.

Rooney did little to make his mark in England's 4-1 defeat by Germany yesterday in the last 16 match at the Free State Stadium.

It followed a familar pattern for the Manchester United striker after he also failed to hurt the United States, Algeria and Slovenia in the group stages.

Rooney has been troubled by an ankle problem but James believes that is not the reason for his barren scoring run in internationals.

"I didn't notice a lack of fitness. We did some shooting the day before the game and he was smashing them past me, " said the Portsmouth goalkeeper. "I was hoping that would be replicated in the game.

"The trouble for Wayne in this tournament was that all the opposition expected him to be the danger man and they did what they could to nullify his offensive capabilities.

"You have to give credit to the opposition. Teams know how good he is. They did all they could to stop him from playing. He wasn't given freedom and against Germany there were times when he had to come deep to pick the ball up.

"If he has to do that, then he's not getting the joy up front. That has to be credit to the opposition and the way they nullify him."

James believes the result might have been different had Frank Lampard's "goal" stood.

England were trailing 2-1 at the time but referee Jorge Larrionda failed to give the equaliser even though TV replays showed the ball was about two feet over the line.

James said: "Given that we were putting them under a lot of pressure at the time it would have put us on parity. We would have gone in at half-time in much more positive mood.

"This has obviously changed the game. At 2-2 of course we are on the up. It would have been a much different story in the second half.

"There were possibly two people on that pitch who didn't see that ball go over the line - the referee and the linesman. You do not need technology for that.

"The frustration is that we defended well and they have scored three goals on counter attacks which has killed the game."

James is 40 in August but remains determined to carry on playing for England if needed.

He made his World Cup debut in South Africa against Algeria - replacing Robert Green - after being on the bench in previous tournaments in Japan and South Korea and then Germany.

James said: "There will never be a retirement from me as long as I'm playing football. Certainly it was not in my plans to go home now.

"I've seen the younger goalkeepers we've got and some of are pretty good. Hopefully, they will put themselves in the position and do the right thing for England."

James revealed that manager Fabio Capello said little in the dressing room after England's dreams had been dashed.

He added: "There is not a lot he can say. You can start having a go at people or whatever but we are going home.

"He was not happy - just not happy. No-one is going to start venting anger at anyone because as a squad we've got knocked out at a stage we didn't want to get knocked out at.

"A couple of vital moments like the goal that was not allowed and Germany's brilliance at counter attacking football made the difference."