LONDON: Former England striker Alan Shearer tipped Manchester United's Wayne Rooney (pic) to become the Three Lions' all-time top scorer by the time his international career ends.

After scoring his 29th goal against Ukraine on Tuesday, Rooney now lies in sixth place in the goalscoring charts – one goal behind a prestigious fifth spot - which includes the likes of Tom Finney, Nat Lofhouse and Shearer himself.

And Shearer,  who finished his England's  career with 30 goals in 63 games,  believes that Rooney  has the ability to take on the goalscoring legends and become England's greatest-ever striker.

"I hope by the end of this tournament he has smashed my record," Shearer told The Sun.

“If he has then who knows what we will have achieved. He is still just 27, so he could go on and be the number one.

“It is some challenge but that is what Wayne loves. He will certainly be looking forward to the next challenge against Italy (in the quarter-final) on Sunday.”

Shearer, who is now a BBC pundit, also discussed Rooney's lackluster performance in Donetsk after finishing his suspension and playing his first match of Euro 2012.

“It wasn’t his greatest game and he missed a good chance early on," he said. “But he showed his instinct to be in the right place for the goal no matter how the ball got there.

“Great strikers can have poor games but still come out with a goal. Now after getting that game under his belt and a goal, I expect us to see a much better Rooney against Italy.”

- mD