Rooney eyes Charlton's England scoring record

Former footballer Bobby Charlton of England arrives at Phnom Penh International Airport July 24, 2007.

LONDON (Reuters) - England striker Wayne Rooney has set his sights on becoming his country's leading goalscorer after his double in the 6-0 thrashing of Andorra on Wednesday.

Rooney struck twice before being substituted at halftime, taking his tally to 24 in 52 appearances, as England moved to within one victory of a place at next year's World Cup finals in South Africa.

The Manchester United forward has flourished under coach Fabio Capello and his current form, with 10 goals in his last seven internationals, suggests that he could overhaul the long-standing record of 49 set by Bobby Charlton.

"If I could beat Charlton's record, it would be a great achievement and I do have that record in mind," Rooney told the BBC.

"I have been delighted with the way the scoring has gone for me in the last few games and this has been my best season with England."

Rooney has been given a more orthodox striking role by Capello, one which the 23-year-old is relishing.

"I have always said that I have never based my game on goals alone," he said. "I love playing and getting on the ball and getting involved in the game and I am doing that -- with the goals coming on top of that as well.

"Hopefully, the goals will continue but we are performing as a team and I believe we have one foot in the World Cup finals."

England have an 11-point lead in Group Six and need just one more win from their remaining three fixtures to guarantee top spot in the group, although Croatia, Ukraine and Belarus will provide stiffer opposition than Andorra.

"We've got to be careful," said midfielder David Beckham, who started for England for the 100th time. "We've won seven games, we've put in seven good performances, but we're not a team that gets carried away and we're not a squad that gets carried away. We can't afford to."

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ed Osmond)