“I’m not a player who needs [to win] individual awards like Cristiano Ronaldo,” Rooney said. “He has to have that and you admire him for that.
“I’m more about winning things as a team. You can see how he is. He wants his moments. It’s more important for me to win trophies as a team.
“I’ve won PFA Player of the Year, which is nowhere near as good as winning a trophy with Manchester United. I’ve not won anything this year, so hopefully I can do that now.”
Rooney believes he can finally shine at a World Cup over the next few weeks, prospering in an England team he has been full of praise for after after struggling to make his mark in the last two tournaments.
“I feel great, better than I have done for years,” he said.
“I’m ready for this tournament. If know if I can play my game, I’ll do well. “I’ve always been hard on myself. I’ve maybe put myself under too much pressure before.
Maybe the media have put me under a lot of pressure and I’ve tried to respond to that. “I’ve learnt to enjoy this one because I haven’t enjoyed the last ones, they’ve not gone well.
All of a sudden you’re looking back and they’ve gone and I didn’t enjoy it. I’m going to make sure I take positive memories from this one. I’ll have no excuses. I’ve prepared well for it.” The challenge of Italy will be the first chance Rooney gets to prove his point, in Group D on Saturday.
He claims England’s European rivals should fear Roy Hodgson’s side, rather than the other way around, and suggested a high tempo England display will be crucial to their hopes of success.
“The Italian defenders put themselves in good positions but, if I’m being honest, when you play a high tempo they’ve struggled,” Rooney said.
“The Italian league is nowhere near the tempo of the Premier League. Even when we played AC Milan, with [Alessandro] Nesta and [Paolo] Maldini as centre-halves, they really struggled when we’ve played a high tempo. If we can do that I am sure we will give them problems.”
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