David Nugent - International Career

International Career

He made his debut for England U21s against Wales in February 2005. He scored his first goal for the team on his debut, in the 2–2 draw with Moldova on 15 August 2006. Teamed up front again with Arsenal's young Theo Walcott, he scored his second goal for England U21s in the 3–2 win over Switzerland on 6 September 2006 that advanced the team into the play-off round of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship. He scored his third goal for the U21s against Spain on 6 February 2007 in a 2–2 draw, Stuart Pearce's first game as coach.

On 19 March 2007, following much speculation after Steve McClaren confirmed he had been watching Nugent, David was called into the full England squad to replace the injured Darren Bent of Charlton Athletic.

On 28 March 2007, Nugent made his debut as a late substitute for England in a Euro 2008 qualifying match against Andorra in Barcelona and marked the occasion with a 93rd-minute goal after a Jermain Defoe shot. Nugent, in his post-match press interview, expressed genuine satisfaction over having accomplished a "1 Goal/1 Cap" national team record; Nugent is one of just three players to have exactly one substitute appearance and one goal for England, the others being Paul Goddard and Francis Jeffers. Since then, Nugent has failed to secure another outing with England.

He was the first Preston player to play for the national team since Tom Finney some 49 years previously and the first England national team footballer from a club playing in the Football League since David James of West Ham in 2003. He was also the first Football League outfield player since Michael Gray of Sunderland in 1999.

In June 2007, he represented the Under-21s in the UEFA Under-21 Championship in the Netherlands.