After 53 goals and 119 appearances, Wayne Rooney's international career is over.The 31-year-old was set to be recalled for England's World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Slovakia, but he has now informed Gareth Southgate of his plans to focus on his return to Everton.Since rejoining the Toffees earlier this summer, he has started to recover his form, scoring two goals in the opening two games of their Premier League season.Nonetheless, the general consensus is that it was time for him to hang up his boots in the Three Lions dressing room.Barring his breakthrough at Euro 2004, he too often struggled in major tournaments and it's hard to imagine that he would have made much of an impact at next year's World Cup in Russia.The striker-turned-midfielder will still go down as an all-time great, however, because of his goalscoring contribution over the years.

Legends pay tribute 

England players past and present have been paying tribute -
Gary Lineker and David Beckham have led the way:

Rio Ferdinand was next up, posting a lengthy Instagram message to his former teammate for club and country:

'Wazza' has always had his critics, and that certainly isn't likely to change as he enters the twilight years of his career.

Rio hits out at Rooney's haters 

In an interview with the BBC, the question was put to Ferdinand whether Rooney has been underappreciated - and he had a strong response.

"I think it's a joke," he said.

"I think it's disgraceful. This country, I think far too many times, we just want to throw players away when they get to a certain age or when they're just below the performance level that they've shown over the years.

"Listen, I travelled around with him all over the world with England and with Manchester United and he was absolutely adored everywhere we went. Wherever we touched down, they loved him.

"Come back to England, he's not this, he's not that. I just think it's a joke and I think it happens too often. He'll be appreciated in a couple of years after he retires from football whenever that may be."

Maybe Premier League fans should enjoy him while he lasts.

How do you rate Rooney's England career? Have your say in the comments.