The Manchester United striker has scored 49 goals in 96 games for his country and captained the Dutch to the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.Van Persie passed Johan Cruyff’s previous record by scoring twice in a 4-0 win against Romania in 2013. Now Rooney is hoping to get past another icon, Sir Bobby Charlton, in the England scoring stakes.RVP, whose daughter is in the same class as Rooney’s eldest son Kai, will probably remind Rooney at the school gates that he only made his international debut in 2005 – two years after Rooney’s.DIDIER DROGBA (IVORY COAST)Drogba, arguably the most famous and influential figure in his country, retired from international football after playing in his third World Cup last summer, in order to concentrate on his club career at Chelsea.His tally of 65 goals in 104 games included a World Cup strike against Brazil in 2010 – a tournament in which he wore a cast on his arm to protect a recently-dislocated shoulder.Drogba is the only footballer who can truly claim to have helped stop a civil war after an emotional appeal on television following an Ivory Coast game.SAMUEL ETO’O (CAMEROON)Eto’o has played for some of Europe’s biggest clubs including Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea but is enjoying a new lease of life this season at Goodison Park.In Cameroon, his goals record of 56 in 118 games is unikely to beaten for a long time. The 33-year-old has played in four different World Cup tournaments (1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014) and scored against Saudi Arabia, Denmark and the Netherlands.Surprisingly, his only international hat-trick came against Angola in the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations.EDIN DZEKO (MAN CITY & BOSNIA)The leading scorer of his relatively new nation with 38 goals, Dzeko is one of very few members of the Bosnian team who endured the terrible civil war as a young boy in Sarajevo when most of his team-mates managed to escape the troubles and start new lives abroad.Dzeko scored 12 times as Bosnia qualified for their first World Cup finals this year but netted only once in Brazil, in their final group game against Iran.EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR (TOGO)The Spurs striker is back in the fold as captain of his country and has scored 29 goals for his country in 65 appearances.Adebayor’s experiences have included a threatened pay strike that nearly saw Togo withdraw from the 2006 World Cup and a terrible attack on the team bus at the 2010 African Cup of Nations in which rebels shot at the players.CRISTIANO RONALDO (PORTUGAL)The former Manchester United favourite returned to Old Trafford to win his 118th cap on Tuesday against Argentina but failed to add to his tally of 52 international goals – more than Eusebio or Luis Figo.Ronaldo became a national hero by scoring against England in the Euro 2004 quarter-final which Portugal eventually won on penalties and a decade later his winner against Armenia made him the leading all-time scorer in European Championship qualifying, with 23.World Cups have not been quite so successful though, Ronaldo has scored only three goals in 13 appearances, one apiece in 2006, 2010 and 2014.THIERRY HENRY (FRANCE) Besides being Arsenal’s all-time leading goalscorer, Henry broke Michel Platini’s French best when he scored twice against Lithuania in 2007.He retired from international football after a disastrous World Cup for France in 2010 with 51 goals in 123 games. Strangely, he was France’s top scorer when they won the World Cup in 1998 with four goals, but played no part in the final against Brazil.ROBBIE KEANE (REPUBLIC OF IRELAND)Keane has scored 65 goals in 138 games for Ireland, records that are well above any Englishman although he was disappointed his last cap was only as a substitute against Scotland on Friday.The former Wolves, Coventry, Tottenham and Liverpool striker – now playing in the USA with Los Angeles Galaxy – made his name on the world stage with a last-minute equaliser against eventual finalists Germany at the 2002 World CupA decade later, he reached the milestone of 50 goals for his country with a double against Macedonia and unlike most players of his generation, he has continued to make himself available for his national team.STERN JOHN (TRINIDAD & TOBAGO) Few had longer international careers than the 16 years former Nottingham Forest, Birmingham and Sunderland striker John played for Trinidad.Between 1995 and 2011, he won 115 caps and scored an incredible 70 goals for the Soca Warriors, most notably a match-winning double against Mexico in 2005 that took his side through to their first World Cup finals the following year.Unfortunately for John, who scored goals for nine different English clubs in total, he failed to score in the World Cup itself in Germany, playing in a 2-0 defeat by England.Bakudaily.Az