The whole concept of footballers “retiring from international duty” fascinates me. It is sometimes difficult for us mere fans to grasp the notion that a pro footballer no longer wants to play for his country. International football is what young kids dream about, but delving deeper into the idea of “international retirement”, there is often much more to it that it first seems.
David Beckham. An England great who has reached over 100 caps. There were many cynical voices raised when Beckham was edging towards this milestone through a number of token cameo appearances. Beckham, though, has never lost his enthusiasm for playing for England. Overcoming a particularly hateful time after his 1998 World Cup sending off, Beckham’s strength of character and on-pitch efforts won over the fans and by 2002 he was England’s most important player. He refused to do the easy thing and turn his back on the England team. Even after resigning from the captaincy after another World Cup penalty defeat in 2006, he remained available for selection, and were it not for injury, would perhaps be flying out for a 4th World Cup this summer as a player. Whilst the atmosphere at Wembley Stadium has not always been pleasant during the qualification stages, Beckham’s introduction always received a unanimous cheer from the crowd, more out of respect for his England career and his desire to play for his country than his potential impact on the game.
Whilst Beckham is not in England’s 2010 World Cup playing squad, Jamie Carragher is, and Manager Capello tried to include Paul Scholes, two players retired from international duty.
Scholes has to be respected for sticking to his decision. He has enjoyed another good season at club level and is enjoying the years that a long international career may have shortened. Unlike Beckham, whose replacements such as Bentley and Wright-Phillips were never able to grab the right midfield spot from him, Scholes’ competition would have included Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, so whether or not Scholes would have featured in recent tournaments is another question.
Jamie Carragher's England Dream Team?
Jamie Carragher’s U-turn on retirement is a slightly different scenario. Carragher “retired” in 2007, possibly at the peak of his Liverpool performances. It is widely reported that his frustration at being not only overlooked for the centre of England’s defence, but also at right-back led to his decision. This is understandable. While Ferdinand and Terry became England’s centre-back pairing of choice, Carragher’s position as a back-up to Wes Brown is still difficult to justify. Nevertheless, Carragher’s selection for 2010 has left other candidates facing a summer at home. The Liverpool defender has been far from his best this season, and is difficult to see where his game time in the World Cup will come from, but is the real crime that Fabio Capello asked him? With the centre of defence being one of England’s greatest strengths, is offering a second chance to a 32-year old more beneficial than perhaps offering the opportunity to a younger defender?
In reality, there is little surprise that Carragher has changed his mind. Although there seemed to be a certain amount of frustration and anger in his initial decision, many players have been unable to resist the lure of another international tournament. Zinedine Zidane retired with several other France stalwarts in 2004, but was asked to come back for the 2006 World Cup campaign and was immediately re-instated as captain. It was clear, particularly from the performance against Brazil, that Zidane still “had it.” It was almost tragic that his full retirement ended on that Materazzi headbutt, but it did give us a famous World Cup image for the ages, up there with Baggio’s penalty and Maradona’s hand.
2006 gave 2 of the greats a chance to retire properly. Materazzi had other plans.
Some do it to genuinely prolong their club careers. Dimitar Berbatov and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, again the biggest stars of their respective countries, have recently expressed interest in retiring from international duty. Each has suggested that a longer club career is at the core of their decision. Yes, it may be cynical, both are undoubtedly aware that their presence will be missed and that they will probably have their fans clamouring for a return. This did not happen for Carragher. Sure, there was a recognition that he was overlooked by England managers for many years, but I rarely heard an England fan say “If only Carragher was still playing” during the disaster that was Euro 2008 qualification. Maybe his recall to the squad is what he wanted from the beginning, an England manager who shared his own opinion of his worth.
There are many players who make themselves unavailable for more trivial reasons. Dwight Yorke for example, retired from Trinidad and Tobago in 2001 after a fall out with the coaching staff, came back for the 2006 World Cup campaign, retired in 2007, came back for a cameo against England in 2008, and then returned full time for the 2010 qualifiers. Again Yorke was aware of this importance to the team, so knew that a comeback was always a possibility. In that sense, does the star of the team have the power/ego to remove himself from selection just to make a point?
Players such as Zidane, Figo and Yorke were national heroes who could command a place in the team at any time. Ibrahimovic and Berbatov fall into the same category. This does not explain why players such as these choose “retirement.” Maybe at the time, they genuinely believe that their international careers are, or should be over and are simply lured back by coaches who still see some value.
It is worrying that the World Cup squads will feature so many unretired players. Certainly in England, the idea of Carragher and Scholes featuring this summer was very real until recently, the obvious question is why are we still considering these players? Firstly, they have chosen not to play for England, perhaps at a time when they were needed more, and secondly, there must be fresh young talent available for selection.
The Oranje have moved on from Van Nistelrooy
The saddest aspect though, is the one recently echoed by Ruud van Nistelrooy, “ In hindsight, I should never have made the decision to retire from international football after Euro 2008. However, I didn’t know I would regret my decision this much.”
Van Nistelrooy’s decision to retire was born out of frustration towards then manager Marco Van Basten. Now, under a new coach, the Netherlands go to the World Cup off an unbeaten qualification campaign, with a team full of exciting young prospects. There is no longer a place for Van Nistelrooy, who perhaps over-estimated his own significance to the side, and retired, despite deep down, still having the desire to play for his country.
Sure, it is down to the coach whether or not to consider those players who have retired themselves, Scholes is definitely in the minority as a player who refuses to come out of retirement. Gary Neville claimed Capello’s attempt to recall Scholes was desperation, and it is hard to argue. I also doubt that the likes of James Milner and Scott Parker found it particularly confidence-boosting.
Sympathy for today’s professional footballers is often in short supply. But Emmanuel Adebayor’s international retirement from Togo following the horrors of the most recent African Cup of Nations is a tragic story. He simply could not face to go back and, hopefully, he will represent Togo again one day. History is also littered with prematurely injured players, their opportunity to go out at the highest level cruelly taken away from them. Players such as Carragher and Van Nistelrooy who seem to have taken their international careers for granted, will not be given the same consideration.
It seems that the decision to retire from international football is in most cases difficult to explain, rarely taken for good reason, and often a mistake, as Jamie Carragher would surely testify.
David Harrison
written by
David Harrison
If Ji Sung Park can travel around the world to play for his team then there should be no reason why other plans, especially those who play in Europe should be retiring from International football – I think Berbatov's decision to retire is poor – agewise he should have another campaign in him at least.
Onto the Jamie Carragher situation – I personally think he was mucked around last time he made himself available to England – was it Sven or McClaren? Either way I think it was very unfair for him, having just won a Champions League not to be included, even if at right back. In saying that it was a poor decision from him and people would say – what has he contributed to the qualifying campaign and should he go to the World Cup?
Have to say David – nice use of images – made me chuckle!
Posted by Steven Jones | 26 May, 2010, 19:21If aging players (understandably) feel they need to ease back the throttle with regards to the number of matches played in a calendar year or if they have issues with the current manager, it is probably correct of them to step away from their national team. Maybe it would be better from a credibility standpoint to not use the term 'retirement.' Hiatus might be a better choice.
Posted by mpalazzotto | 27 May, 2010, 14:37Steven, you make a good point with Ji Sung Park. Several times a season a commentator will explain how he and others have been travelling very long hours for an international fixture. I remember Mascherano playing for Liverpool this year despite the duration of his travel to and from South America for World Cup qualifiers.
I agree, Carragher's original decision was understandable, given his performances for Liverpool at the time. I am still very surprised that he has come back now. I thought he would stick to his principles and move on, and I thought England had moved on from him, especially with Dawson and King so impressive for Spurs. Despite everything though, as a fan, I think I'd rather have Carragher on the bench than Upson.
Posted by David Harrison | 27 May, 2010, 19:19