Wayne Rooney was named as the new England Three Lions captain and will officially wear the armband for the first time in their upcoming friendly against Norway on Sept. 3 at the Wembley Stadium.

England manager Roy Hodgson announced his decision at a news conference on Thursday, saying that after analyzing his options, Rooney eventually came on top of his list.

Hodgson did not reveal the other candidate, but ESPN FC reported that the goalkeeper Joe Hart and center-back Gary Cahill were also strongly considered to take the place Steven Gerrard vacated following the former captain's decision to retire from international football.

"I gave it a lot of thought, but I think Wayne is an obvious choice. He certainly deserves it," Hodgson said. "His commitment to the cause, his experience, the fact that he has captained England in the past and now of course he has the responsibility at Man United, all those factors weighed in my thought process."

Hodgson, who is preparing the Three Lions for their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, said that he has already talked to Rooney about his role, and the Manchester United striker told the England boss that he is ready to take the responsibility.

"I've had a long conversation with him and he is prepared to accept the pressures that the England captaincy brings," Hodgson said. "That's quite important these days. To be sure that the person who you are offering the captaincy to feels he wants to take on that enormous responsibility. All I can hope for is that he continues to play well and hope he shoulders the responsibility as well as the captains before him."

Rooney, who has scored 40 goals in 95 games since starting his international football career in 2003, also posted a statement on his official website, where he said the being named as captain is beyond his "wildest dreams."

The 28-year-old striker said that he is planning to talk to Gerrard to seek his advice about what he should do as the captain of the squad, expressing confidence that their former team captain will be more than ready to introduce him to the role.

"I intend to speak with Steven about different aspects of the role," Rooney said on Thursday. "We had a great relationship from the moment we played together for our country right up to our final game in Brazil. I am sure if I ever need to seek his advice he will be there to help."

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