International Career
Bent has represented England at under-15, under-16, under-17, under-19, under-21 and senior levels. He made his under-16 debut against Finland on 31 July 2000, making 10 appearances and scoring three goals for the team, with his last appearance coming against Finland on 27 February 2001. His debut for the under-19 team came against Germany on 14 February 2002, scoring two goals in a 3–1 victory, and his third and final appearance was against Lithuania on 21 April. His first appearance for the under-21 team came against Italy on 11 February 2003, which England lost 1–0. He made 14 appearances and scored nine goals for the under-21 team, with his final appearance coming against France on 15 November 2005. He received his first call up to the senior England team for the friendly against Denmark on 17 August, but did not play in the game. His England debut eventually came on 1 March 2006, when he started against Uruguay at Anfield in a pre-2006 FIFA World Cup friendly match. He was not included in England's World Cup squad when it was announced in May 2006.
Despite having played for the senior side, Bent was recalled to the under-21 squad for their October 2006 qualification play-offs against Germany. Later that month, he was recalled to the senior squad due to an injury to Andrew Johnson shortly after the squad's announcement. He was called to the England squad for a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia in November 2007. He came on as an 80th minute substitute as England lost 3–2 and failed to qualify for the tournament. He was called up to the team for a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Ukraine in March 2009 following an injury to striker Carlton Cole. He made his second start for England in a 1–0 friendly defeat to Brazil on 14 November 2009. Bent was named in England's preliminary 30-man squad for the 2010 World Cup on 11 May 2010, although he was eventually omitted from the final 23-man squad on 1 June.
Bent scored his first international goal in England's 3–1 away win over Switzerland after appearing as a substitute for Jermain Defoe in a Euro 2012 qualifier on 7 September 2010. Capello stated he had been impressed with the improvement in Bent's all-round game since his World Cup omission and selected him in the starting XI for England's friendly with Denmark, where he scored a tap-in from a Theo Walcott cross. Bent retained his place for England's Euro 2012 qualifier with Wales to make his first competitive international start on 26 March 2011. In scoring England's second goal he took his tally to three goals in his last three matches. Bent recovered from injury in time but was ultimately left out of the final 23-man squad for Euro 2012 as Hodgson felt Bent would not be fit enough to appear at the tournament.
Read more about this topic: Darren Bent
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