Back in the days of World War II, if you refused your call up to national service, you would be thrown into jail, beaten, and in some cases pelted with fruit.
Obviously, refusing to kick a ball around while wearing an England shirt is not the same as refusing to take up arms for your country, but it is the same principle. As a footballer, the highest honour you can receive is to be asked to pull on the jersey of your national team, yet why is it some players think they are beyond this?
In recent years, Ben Foster, Michael Carrick, Paul Robinson and Emile Heskey have all retired from international football. Fair enough, Heskey is pretty old and crap anyway so I won’t bother with him, but the former three took it upon themselves to call time on England just because they weren’t being picked. That is an insult in my eyes and they should all be condemned. None of them should be allowed to represent England again. Instead, Carrick was given an immediate route back into the team after Euro 2012 but all that will do is make others think it is ok to do the same.
With people such as Ryan Giggs, retiring undoubtedly benefitted his career and with no international ‘burden’ he has been able to continue churning out impressive performances for Man Utd. I suppose with all his other ‘extra-curricular’ activities he had going on at the time perhaps it was wise of him to give something up.
I would probably be right in saying that every footballer started life as a young kid playing in their back garden and pretending that they were in the World Cup final scoring the winning goal against Brazil. Why is it that this dream suddenly vanashes as soon as they realise they aren’t an automatic choice.
I think players such as Rio Ferdinand and David Beckham, both of whom will probably never play for England again but both have said that they will never retire from the English game, should be commended for their approach. Who do you will be remembered years from now? Beckham and Ferdinand who have never given less than 100% for every team they have played for? Or players like Foster and Carrick & co. who half-ass their way through football and only want to be around when times are good. A lot of us down here would kill to be in your position so how about you be a little more grateful and represent us as a country when you get the chance!
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