Give Rooney time to find best, says Beckham

NUREMBERG, June 15 (Reuters) England captain David Beckham hailed Wayne Rooney's return today but warned the striker needed time to produce his best.

''As soon as he came on people expect him to go past four players and stick one in the top corner,'' Beckham told reporters after England's 2-0 Group B victory over Trinidad&Tobago.

''He's more than capable of doing but it is about him getting his fitness now and he has helped that with the more than 20 minutes that he played.'' Rooney's battle to recover from a broken foot sustained on April 29 has dominated England's World Cup preparations.

The 20-year-old was cleared to play hours before the start of the clash and made his appearance as a 58th minute substitute at a time when England were running out of ideas against a resolute Trinidad defence.

The Manchester United striker did not contribute directly to either of England's two late goals, scored by Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard, but his presence and ability to find space lifted Sven-Goran Eriksson's side.

''The World Cup needs a player like Wayne, you want to see the best players perform at the best competitions and we've got that now,'' added Beckham.

''We are lucky he has come back very quickly but we still have to be very patient with him.'' Beckham said Rooney had celebrated like a ''little kid'' when informed he could play while Eriksson stated Rooney would get ''better and better''.

''Of course, he's not 100 percent in form, but you can't expect that,'' said the Swede.

''It was very important that today he got the first match, 30 minutes more or less. Because if he had got that in the next match or the match after, we'd have lost five days or 10 days.'' As for the media circus, he added: ''I'm relieved that the saga of Rooney is over. It has been talked about every day, every press conference -- and not just press conferences with me but also with the players. Really, all of us in the camp are fed up with it.''

REUTERS

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