Celebrations for 100th caps don't always go well historically; England marked their World-Cup winning captain Bobby Moore's centenary with a 5-0 thrashing of Scotland, but for England's most ever capped player Peter Shilton it wasn't as memorable as England were sent crashing out of Euro 88' with a game to spare after a hat-trick from Marco Van Basten.
Up until the hour mark of England's European Qualifier against Slovenia, Wayne Rooney's big night in Wembley was looking like it was going to be spoiled by a determined Slovenian side who had taken a shock lead on the night, albeit by a Jordan Henderson own-goal.
England looked short of inspiration, they looked incapable of rescuing the occasion and securing the victory that was required.
Faced with this, Rooney took the game into his own hands, and within three minutes of the Slovenes taking the lead, the Manchester United forward had burst into the opposition penalty area, jinking past a defender and was tripped up by their skipper and centre-half Cesar. He had forced the penalty, then converted it himself by hammering home past Europe's best penalty saving goalkeeper after he'd got a glove on it. This brought Rooney to the same goal tally as England legend Jimmy Greaves; both tied at 44 goals for their country, with Rooney in sight of scoring 50 goals for his country something that nobody has ever managed.
He is four off tying Gary Lineker on 48, and five off Bobby Charlton on 49.
The game had gone to 1-1, but this was an important moment as the whole mood was transformed. Danny Welbeck struck twice in seven minutes to put England into a two-goal winning margin and put the game to bed. They maintained their 100% record in qualifying and ensured the evening would be looked back on with fondness and pride.
If it was a massive night for Wayne Rooney, it was an even bigger one for debutant Nathaniel Clyne. The young right full-back passed his test with flying colours being one of the solid performers on the night bombing down the right flank at every opportunity.
Apart from the Slovenian stopper Samir Handanovic who plays for Inter Milan, most of Srecko Katanec's men play in the second tier of Europe's leagues, for teams like Partizan Belgrade and Chievo or even lower.
Slovenia had an excellent work rate throughout the match, they defended with intelligence and kept the shape of the team well. They wanted to try and rile opponents such as Jack Wilshere and Jordan Henderson but they channelled this in a positive sense and seemed to be up for the scrap.
The England coach Roy Hodgson paid tribute to his captain "It was a wonderful evening for Wayne, having the golden cap presented by Sir Bobby Charlton must have been very special, then he capped it with a good performance and the first goal. It was fitting he got his reward, he is an important person for England, he takes the captaincy very seriously, he put all his energy, enthusiasm and passion into it".
Danny Welbeck has now scored 13 goals in only 22 starts for England under Hodgson, who has really brought him through as an England player. He later said "I've always believed in Danny, when i picked him for Euro 2012; many were surprised but I've never picked a squad without him- even when he wasn't playing regularly for his club".
It was a good day for England.
