£500k incentive for World Cup heroics

WAYNE ROONEY will pick up a staggering £500,000 goal bonus if he is top scorer at the World Cup.

The England striker must beat off competition from Fernando Torres, David Villa and Luis Fabiano to pick up the bounty.

Rooney's incentive has been written into the lucrative deal he has with his long-standing boot supplier.

Rooney is now considered to be one of the world's leading footballers, standing shoulder to shoulder with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

If the England striker has a successful tournament, he is also expected to be crowned world player of the year in December.

England's last World Cup Golden Boot winner was Gary Lineker at Mexico 86, finishing the tournament as top scorer with six goals.

Rooney is fourth favourite with bookmakers to bag the most goals in South Africa after an impressive year for club and country.

He was England's top scorer during the successful qualification campaign under Fabio Capello and is being backed heavily to finish on top in South Africa.

Miroslav Klose is the current holder after scoring five times at the 2006 tournament in Germany.

Rooney did not score for England in the last tournament, but this time he is expected to be fully after a phenomenal season at Old Trafford.

The Manchester United striker has scored 28 times and is on course to win the PFA Player of the Year award.

Despite Sir Alex Ferguson's criticism of the United striker for declaring himself fit to face Egypt on Wednesday, England's medical staff insist he was fully assessed.

England's full-time physio Gary Lewin analysed the striker following his match-winning performance at last Sunday's Carling Cup final victory.

Rooney told England medics that he was fit to play and that convinced Capello to start him against the African champions.