ROOMANIA hit new heights on Tuesday as the nation basked in European glory.

Wayne Rooney, the 18-year-old Everton striker who has taken Portugal by storm, is the toast of the tournament after shooting England into the last eight of Euro 2004.

Thursday night's quarter-final showdown with the host nation in Lisbon will be a tough test for Sven Goran Eriksson's young lions but confidence is sky high after they came from behind to beat Croatia 4-2.

And with Rooney in peak form, they believe they have the most feared player on the planet.

As Eriksson prompted comparisons with the legendary Pele, Steven Gerrard predicted that the starlet could become the best player in the world.

"I feel there is no better player in Europe at the moment than Wayne Rooney," Gerrard said after his fellow Merseysider followed up his two goals against Switzerland with another brace in an even more impressive performance against the Croats.

"If he keeps on putting in performances like that then one day he can also become the best player in the world.

"His performances in this tournament have been so mature.

"He's holding the ball up well, bringing people into play, scoring important goals. Hopefully he can continue like this till the end of the tournament.

"He can definitely help us win it. If you look at his performances over the last three games, he has definitely helped us get to the quarter-finals."

Gerrard also praised the way that Rooney kept his cool after the Croatians had claimed before the game that they would try to wind him up.

He added: "Wayne has got to be prepared for that in the future as well. His performance was full of maturity."

Skipper David Beckham echoed Gerrard's sentiments and said: "It was another awesome performance from Wayne.

"He's now done it in three games against France, Switzerland and now Croatia and we're lucky to have that type of talent playing for England."

Everton manager David Moyes has criticised England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson for suggesting Wayne Rooney should be a target for Europe's top clubs.

Eriksson suggested after last week's victory over Switzerland that if he were a club manager he would be making a call to Rooney's agent.

Rooney is now Euro 2004's top scorer with four goals after his double against Croatia last night and Moyes desperately wants to hang onto his star asset.

"We've been disappointed by one or two comments, especially one that the England manager made when he said 'If I was a club manager I'd pick up the phone and call his agent," Moyes told Everton's website.

"First of all, I would expect the manager of England to know it is illegal to do that, because the player is under contract. Secondly, it's the last thing we'd want."