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London, June 6 (ANI): England legend Sir Bobby Charlton has said that England is too heavily dependent on ace striker Wayne Rooney to lift the 2010 World Cup.

The 1966 legend believes Rooney is the key to England’s chances of ending 44 years of World Cup drought in South Africa this summer.

Sir Bobby is convinced that the Manchester United striker is the kind of player who can take the tournament by storm and lead Fabio Capello’s side to glory.

He also insisted that Capello is the right man to guide England’s campaign and can see parallels between the Italian and Sir Alf Ramsey, the Daily Express reports.

Sir Bobby was part of Sir Alf’s World Cup winning side in 1966

Asked if Rooney is vital to England, he said: “He is. I would feel a bit better if they didn’t seem to put everything on his shoulders. But he’s got great ambition and he’s not afraid. He knows he’s a good player.”

“At the moment they’ve got, it appears to me, the right manager. He knows how to handle them and all these players that are making fortunes, as footballers need to be controlled by one man, by a boss,” Sir Bobby said.

“And I think Fabio Capello is a first-class choice as the England manager. It’s made for him. If you don’t take advice from the manager, then you probably won’t be playing,” he said.

Admitting the similarities he sees between Capello and Sir Alf, Charlton said: “That’s the first thing I thought of when they were talking about who was going to be the manager.

“You have to have someone that can bring all these different people from different clubs playing different systems, bring them all together. And that’s what Alf did. He brought the system, the 4-3-3; to make sure that everybody understood easily what their job was. And it worked.” (ANI)