Jamie Carragher - International Career

International Career

In 1996, Carragher had his first appearance for the England under-21 team. Playing as a defensive midfielder, he became a regular for the team, and eventually captain. In 2000, when he became ineligible for the team, he held the national record for most caps at this level, with 27. The record was eclipsed in 2007 by former Liverpool goalkeeper Scott Carson.

On 28 April 1999 he earned his first cap for the senior England team, as a substitute against Hungary. He made his full international début against Netherlands at White Hart Lane in 2001, and later came on as a substitute as England famously beat Germany 5–1 in the Olympiastadion. Carragher missed the 2002 World Cup through injury, but travelled with England to Euro 2004. He eventually ended up with no playing time, losing out to Ledley King when a vacancy opened up. He was selected for the England squad for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and was not in the original starting eleven, but came into the team after Gary Neville suffered an injury.

Carragher has played centre-back, right-back, left-back, and in the defensive midfield for England. Despite his many caps and regular squad appearances, he has never held down a consistent place in the starting eleven. Former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson generally used two central defenders from John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell in preference to Carragher, but occasionally used Carragher as right-back as deputy for Gary Neville, as he did during the 2006 World Cup.

On 1 July 2006 Carragher was one of three players to have a penalty saved by Ricardo Pereira, as England yet again succumbed on penalties to exit the 2006 World Cup in the quarter finals against Portugal. Carragher, who had been brought on as a substitute for Aaron Lennon late in he game, scored with his first attempt but was forced to re-take his penalty by the referee, who had not blown his whistle. Carragher then saw his second effort saved.

On 9 July 2007 it was reported that Carragher was considering quitting the England squad. TalkSport host Adrian Durham accused Carragher of "bottling it." Carragher confirmed on the show that he was indeed thinking about retirement, but he had already had two talks with England head coach Steve McClaren and would leave it until the upcoming match against Germany to decide.

Carragher did subsequently retire from international football. McClaren attempted to persuade him to return to the International level on at least one occasion, whilst McClaren's replacement Fabio Capello has reportedly suggested that he would be happy to consider Carragher. Carragher's responses have suggested that he would not respond positively to any offers of a call-up. Carragher was said to have been unhappy at the failure of successive England managers to pick him at centre-back, preferring to use him as cover along the back four and even as a holding midfielder.

On 11 May 2010, Carragher was named in Fabio Capello's preliminary 30-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Capello and assistant Franco Baldini managed to persuade Carragher into reversing his decision to retire, "The FA got in touch a few weeks ago and asked if I would have a rethink, due to injury problems; I said I would make myself available" Carragher said. On 24 May, Carragher played his return match for England, in a friendly against Mexico, which England won 3–1.

Carragher appeared as a substitute for an injured Ledley King in England's opening World Cup game and replaced King in the following game versus Algeria, receiving a booking in each resulting in a one match ban. He was not selected for the knockout stage exit at the hands of Germany, being dropped in favour of Matthew Upson. Although not formally stating his retirement, Carragher subsequently stated he would prefer to focus on Liverpool under Roy Hodgson and that his international return had been a "one-off" due to injuries to other players