Stewart Downing - International Career

International Career

Downing was first called up as a 19-year-old for the 2003 UEFA European U-19 Championship. With seven Under-21 caps to his credit, Downing made his England debut on 9 February 2005 in a home friendly, played at Villa Park against the Netherlands, replacing Shaun Wright-Phillips in the second half.

Downing's international career took a setback in May 2005 when he was injured during a training session with England on their tour of the United States, keeping him out of action until 2006. Downing was included in the England World Cup squad in May 2006 by Sven-Göran Eriksson, primarily as a back-up for Joe Cole, and came on as a second half substitute in England's victorious opening game against Paraguay. He was brought on once again in the match against Trinidad and Tobago, when England scored two goals in the last ten minutes.

On 16 August 2006, Downing made his first start for England, as Greece were beaten by 4–0, with Downing involved in three of the goals. He started the subsequent three Euro 2008 qualifiers, against Andorra and the Republic of Macedonia. Downing hoped to have proven many of his critics wrong after Fabio Capello became the third successive England manager to give him an England cap, on 26 March 2008 in a 1–0 friendly defeat to France. He was also called up (alongside Middlesbrough teammate David Wheater) for Capello's friendlies against United States and Trinidad and Tobago, where he received the nod ahead of Ashley Young. His performance justified his selection by contributing with the first two goals and won praise from the press who had previously slated his inclusion in the squad. A few months after Capello took charge of England, the Italian boss stated that he had been most impressed by Downing. He was chosen again by Capello to replace Aaron Lennon for the Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro on 12 October 2010. During his second season with Aston Villa, Downing began to feature regularly for England under Capello.

After his transfer to Liverpool, he featured in the two qualifying matches at the start of the season, a 3–0 win against Bulgaria, and a 1–0 win against Wales in which he provided the assist for the only goal of the game scored by former Aston Villa team mate Ashley Young. He also came on at half-time to replace Theo Walcott in the 1–0 win against Spain and started the following game against Sweden which England also won 1–0. On 16 May 2012, new England manager Roy Hodgson named Downing in his 23-man squad for the upcoming UEFA Euro 2012 tournament. He started in a 1–0 win away to Norway on 26 May, which was Hodgson's first game in charge of England.