England are taking on the African champions as part of their perpetrations for the World Cup, which gets underway in June.

Rooney was doubtful for the friendly game with a knee injury, but now he's set to start against the Pharaohs after his problem turned out to be negligible.

Al-Hadari, the Pharaohs' first-choice keeper, believes the 24-year-old always poses threat upfront.

"Rooney is one of the best forwards in the world, if not the best," the Ismaili guardian was quoted by Mirror as saying.

"He dominates games and is definitely up there with the top five.

"He has all the attributes and England now have Rooney, Crouch, Heskey, Lampard, Gerrard who are all special players.

"They are great going forward and can all score goals."