International Career
After making one England under-21 appearance whilst at Watford, James made his full debut for Glenn Hoddle's England in a friendly against Mexico on 29 March 1997 when he was a Liverpool player. He also kept his first international clean sheet as England beat Mexico 2–0 with goals from Teddy Sheringham and James' Liverpool team mate Robbie Fowler.
James is the only black goalkeeper to represent England as a full international.
For several years he had to play understudy to England's regular keeper, David Seaman. When Seaman was dropped after making a mistake against FYR Macedonia in 2002, James became the new England number 1. He retained his place in the England team even after West Ham's relegation to the First Division in 2003, and was the only player from outside the top flight to win an England cap between 1999 (Michael Gray) and 2007 (David Nugent). He went on to play in all of England's matches in Euro 2004.
James was dropped from the starting XI after an error in a 2–2 World Cup qualifying draw against Austria in September 2004, his place being taken by Tottenham's Paul Robinson.
James came on as a halftime substitute and conceded all four goals in the 4–1 drubbing England suffered at the hands of Denmark during a friendly on 17 August 2005 – their worst defeat in 25 years. James still remained part of the England squad, and was selected as the second-choice goalkeeper behind Robinson for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, though he did not play.
Along with fellow veterans David Beckham and Sol Campbell, James was dropped from the England squad at the start of Steve McClaren's reign and was not called up during the 2006–07 season. He was recalled for the friendly with Germany on 22 August 2007, over a year since first being omitted. James subsequently played the whole of the second half of England's 2–1 defeat to Germany as a substitute for Robinson. In so doing, James became the first Portsmouth player to play for the senior England team since Mark Hateley in 1984. However, Scott Carson was chosen ahead of both James and Robinson for the decisive Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia on 21 November 2007. England lost the match and Carson was blamed for Croatia's opening goal. Following England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 McClaren was sacked as England manager and replaced by Fabio Capello. James was subsequently critical of McClaren's treatment of England's goalkeepers.
On 7 February 2008, James was selected as goalkeeper for Capello's first match in charge, a friendly against Switzerland. It was James' first start for England since the friendly with Colombia in May 2005. James firmly re-established himself as England's first choice goalkeeper, starting in each of Capello's first 13 games in charge. Persistent injury problems over the following year left James' hopes of retaining the No. 1 spot for the 2010 World Cup in doubt, with Capello stating he would only consider players who were 100% for his squad. After the World Cup qualifier against Ukraine on 1 April 2009, James did not start a match for England until the final friendly before the World Cup against Japan on 30 May 2010.
Read more about this topic: James David
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