Steven Taylor (footballer) - International Career

International Career

In November 2001, Taylor captained the England Under-16 team at the Walkers International Tournament and was voted the player of the tournament. The following summer, he captained the U-17's to win the Nationwide Tournament, his first international title. In March 2003, the England Under-17 team qualified for the European Championships, and in the match against Slovakia, Taylor scored his first two goals for England. He also played in 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship along with future under-21 teammates James Milner, Andrew Taylor and Martin Cranie and started in all the group matches despite being one of the youngest squad members at age seventeen. Following a good showing in Dubai despite England's dismal results, Taylor made his England under-21 debut on 17 February the next year in a 3–2 win over the Netherlands.

In June 2005, Taylor represented England Under-20 at the Toulon International Tournament, where England finished in third place. On 6 September 2005, he scored his first under-21 goal, against the German side. He also scored two goals against the Poland Under-21s in October 2005.

During the 2007 U-21 European Championship qualifying, Taylor began to establish himself as a regular and played a key role in their run to the semifinals at the tournament. He missed the first match through suspension due to his red card in the play-offs against Germany but played the other two group games and the semi-final where he was unable to stop the late equaliser after going down injured. With England down to ten men after fellow defender Nedum Onuoha left the field injured and all three substitutions had been used, Taylor was forced to play through the pain barrier as the game went into extra-time and converted his penalty in a dramatic penalty shoot-out that ended 13–12 to the Dutch.

Taylor was called up to the senior team on 17 August 2007 for the friendly against Germany though he did not play in the match and also made an appearance for the B team. He was appointed captain of the under-21 side on 5 September, having previously been vice-captain to Nigel Reo-Coker, and captained them to a place 2009 European Championships, playing in all qualifiers. During the second leg of the play-offs against Wales, his header from Jamie O'Hara's corner caused a Sam Vokes own-goal which leveled the score to send England through to the tournament. He was due to lead them through the European Championships but a recurring injury forced him to withdraw, ending his under-21 career and Mark Noble captained the team in his absence.