The Sport Matrix: Thursday 13 November 2014

Rooney focuses on trophies, not goals

Wayne Rooney believes he will soon take Sir Bobby Charlton’s England goalscoring record but says only a World Cup victory would equal his legendary status. Rooney will win his 100th cap against Slovenia and is six behind Charlton’s 49 goals. Rooney says: “I could sit here saying I’ve got 200 caps and 100 goals for my country, but the ultimate is to win a trophy and that’s what we all want to do.”

Federer stands in way of Murray

Roger Federer can tonight dictate Andy Murray’s fate at the World Tour Finals. With today’s concluding round-robin matches in Group B deciding which two players will advance to Saturday’s semi-finals, Murray is likely to have to beat the world No 2 for the first time at the O2 Arena in order to qualify. They meet this evening after the match between Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori.

Messi hits winner for Argentina

Lionel Messi struck the winner for Argentina as they beat Croatia 2-1 in a friendly at West Ham’s Boleyn Ground last night. Anas Sharbini gave Croatia the lead in the 11th minute before the beaten World Cup finalists levelled through Cristian Ansaldi’s deflected long- range shot in the 49th minute. Messi found the net just eight minutes later, slotting in a penalty into the bottom-right corner.

Matthews’ medal goes for £220K

The family of the late Sir Stanley Matthews have expressed their delight at the £220,000 record-breaking sale of his 1953 FA Cup winner’s medal.

Presenter Nick Hancock put the item up for auction at Sotheby’s and, after it far exceeded the £60,000 guide price, the Stoke fan will donate a sum to the foundation of the former winger (above, being given his medal by the Queen at Wembley).

“It’s wonderful news, and shows the passion and remembrance the public still have for Pop,” said Matthews’ daughter, Jean Matthews Gough.

Westwood’s dig at Watson’s captaincy

Turkey’s withdrawal of its bid to host the 2022 Ryder Cup started a debate on the US captaincy, after Tom Watson’s failure. Lee Westwood said: “Captains don’t really have a massive influence on winning a Ryder Cup but they can certainly have a massive influence on losing it.”