International Career
During his time at Wimbledon, Thatcher played for the England under-21 team four times. However, in 2004 he opted to play for Wales, for whom he qualifies due to his Welsh grandmother. His debut international performance came against Hungary, in a 2-1 victory in March 2004, and by October 2004 he had earned seven caps for Wales.
In October 2004, John Toshack was appointed new Welsh national team coach, but Thatcher did not play any games under Toshack, due to suspensions and injuries. Thatcher did not play Wales' 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against England and Poland in early September 2005 on grounds of injury, while playing full time three days later when Manchester City met cross-city rivals Manchester United. This angered John Toshack, and Thatcher was categorically left out of the Welsh national team in September 2005. Since then, he has not been selected for Wales.
Read more about this topic: Ben Thatcher
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“I doubt that I would have taken so many leaps in my own writing or been as clear about my feminist and political commitments if I had not been anointed as early as I was. Some major form of recognition seems to have to mark a woman’s career for her to be able to go out on a limb without having her credentials questioned.”
—Ruth Behar (b. 1956)