ALL I EVER WANTED TO DO WAS PLAY FOR ENGLAND

WE went to the National Football Museum last week and when you walk around and see the history that you have been involved in, you gain a real understanding of what it means. We are talking more than 100 years. But it’s still only 1,200 or so players who have had the chance to play for England and, I think, 20 managers. So, as a kid, all I wanted to do was play for England. Whenever I played an international, I was always thinking beforehand: ‘There are 56million people in the country and you’re one of 11 standing there belting out the anthem.’ I thought about what that meant to my family, to the school I went to, to the Sunday teams I played for, the coaches I’ve worked with. So, you couldn’t be prouder, I thought — until you lead the team. And then you realise there’s even more. It’s an even smaller group of people who have had that opportunity and it is an immense privilege. I was looking in the museum at SIr Bobby Robson, Sir Alf Ramsey, Terry Venables and people who I have incredible respect for and who I grew up revering. You appreciate them even more as you become a coach and a manager — in terms of what they gave the game and what they did for England. So, to be able to play in a poignant match like this on Thursday and to have so many of our former players coming is lovely. I know what that will mean to them. I know the ones I have spoken to are hugely excited about it. I certainly know what it meant when I first got an invite to come back and I brought my dad to a game. You sometimes feel that it’s done when you finish playing for England, so to get these moments where you are invited back is special and we want to embrace that. There is not a chance I could name the best XI I played in, but some of them would get into the team we’ve got now, that’s for certain. I’ve played with some of the greats of the last 25 years. If you look at David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Paul Gascoigne, you can see what I mean. It was hard enough to get four into a midfield at that time, wasn’t it? And it was a privilege for me to play with some really outstanding players.