WILL VARDY REGRET HIS ENGLAND CALL?
WHAT is it like to play for England? It’s a question that I’m often asked. Each time, my reply is the same: there is no higher honour and nothing gave me greater pride.
I haven’t played for my country since getting my 42nd cap against France in November 2010 but I’ve never actually retired. Roy Hodgson took the decision to end my England career, not me. I’m still available and always will be until the time comes to hang up my boots.
Put it another way: I could never do what Jamie Vardy (below) did this week. It’s a huge moment for a player who is still in his prime and operatingg at the highest level to withdrawithdraw from representing England. Engme I hope at some point in the futurere he does not end upp regretting it.
There is no chance I’d have had the kind of chat Jamie had with Gareth Southgate but,, equally, I am notot criticising him. In many respects, I actuallyactuhe know how he feels and why he will haveave made his choice. Being on the edges with England is one of the hardest things for a footballer to handle.
It is Jamie’s bad luck that he is around at a time when Harry Kane has made the main striker’s position his own. If Harry is fit, Harry plays and there is nothing anyone can do about that. Harry is one of the best in the world, so nobody will argue that point.
Yet put yourself in Vardy’s shoes for a moment. You turn up, desperate to play but deep down you realise that no matter what you do, you will be sitting on the bench. It is demoralising when you are banging your head against a brick wall, knowing you cannot break through.
Talking about it now, it all comes flooding back. There were some trips when we were away for 10 days but I knew I wouldn’t get a sniff of a kick in a game. You’d find yourself going from training to the hotel and back again. You would be in the group but you may as well have been invisible. Some of the trips left you bored stiff, others left me asking myself what I had actually achieved by being in a nondescript part of Europe unable to help my country. If I thought about it for too long, I’d end up fuming and be desperate to get on the plane home.
The worst part, I’d say, was the 2010 World Cup. Fabio Capello gave me the No 9 shirt before we went to South Africa and I thought I had a real chancechance. I’d finished the season sonseason by scoring the gogoal that put ToTottenham back in the Champions LLeague and was fufull of confidence. In South Africa, ththough, I was effeffectively a tourist. ist.tourist. I got the sum total of 17 minutes in four ggames and the whole ththing felt like a massive waste of time. I worked out that in the last 11 games I was selected in squads for, I was on the pitch for 93 minutes. I only started one fixture, a 0-0 draw with Montenegro at Wembley. It was, at times, soul destroying.
But then there were the moments when you actually got on and scored or contributed. The feeling on the way home was immense. That’s what I mean about the pride I had of playing for England. Some of the best moments of my life came wearing that white shirt.
You’ll see why I could never give