Paul Scholes on his international retirement in his autobiography titled Scholes: My Story: "I retired from internationals because I was missing my wife and children. I have to confess I didn’t enjoy the World Cup tournament in Japan in 2002. It personified all I don’t like about international football — too much travelling, staying in a hotel an hour from the airport, flying here, there and everywhere for each game. Having such young children and being away from home for six weeks was no good for me. Some lads can cope, but I struggled with it. As a result my form and overall contribution were not up to scratch. A secondary factor in my disenchantment with the England set-up was the selfish attitude of some other players. There were too many individuals there for personal glory. I felt they didn’t care enough about England, that they were using the national team as a way to be noticed. I found that very frustrating."
Posted on: Sun, 09 Jun 2013 16:44:30 +0000