International Career
Johnson was first capped for England at U20 level, being selected in the team for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside Stuart Taylor, Ashley Cole, Peter Crouch and Matthew Etherington. The team finished bottom of their group, losing all three games without scoring.
As the top English goalscorer in the 2004–05 Premier League, there were many calling for him to be selected for the full national team of England squad. Midway through the season, Johnson revealed that he would accept a call-up to the national team of Poland, after being eligible through his grandfather being born in Poland. This subsequently hurried then England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson into giving Johnson his first call-up, to face the Netherlands on 9 February 2005, and he made his first appearance in that game, replacing Wayne Rooney in the 61st minute.
A second cap came when Johnson made his full debut for England, in a 2–1 friendly win over the United States, during England's tour of America in the summer of 2005.
On 9 May 2006, Johnson was put on standby by Eriksson in his squad for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He was also an unused substitute in the England B game against Belarus and the first team's wins over Hungary (who included former Palace team-mates Gábor Király and Sándor Torghelle in their side) and Jamaica.
When Steve McClaren was installed as England coach, Johnson got further opportunities to play for his country in the Euro 2008 qualifiers. Johnson made substitute appearances against Andorra (at Old Trafford on 2 September 2006) and away to Macedonia (on 6 September 2006). Johnson then made his first competitive start for England in the Euro 2008 qualifier with Israel.
Read more about this topic: Andrew Johnson (English Footballer)
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