Campbell for England?
Posted on September 2nd, 2010 | 199 Comments |
Sol Campbell has now thrown his hat back into the England ring and has his sights firmly set on an international recall.
I can’t blame the lad for having international ambition. Why not? If he can prove himself worthy of a call up for England by playing suitably well for Newcastle then why shouldn’t he be rewarded with the opportunity of adding to his 73 caps? Unfortunately, I just don’t think it will happen, regardless of how well Sol may end up playing for us. It won’t happen for one reason – his age.
Campbell will be turning 36 in just over two weeks time, and that will rule him out for England in my view. In my opinion, if he proves he is good enough then he should get his chance again, but following England’s disastrous showing at the World Cup there appears to be a move for the national side to move forward and look to the future with the next generation of England players.
Campbell will no doubt be viewed by the media as a ‘has been’, a sign that Capello is not changing his ways, and I don’t think he will want the negative media attention that calling Campbell up would attract. Having said that, you never know I guess, and as long as Sol puts in the performances on the pitch with the view of breaking back into the national side it can only be of benefit to us.
“I haven’t come to Newcastle as a last hurrah, and I still believe I have what it takes to play for England. I still have the passion, the fire in my belly. I want to win. But you just can’t do anything about it anymore, so I am not going to fight,” Campbell told The Journal.
“I am going to fight on the pitch for Newcastle and if it comes to the stage where someone says, ‘Can you fight for England?’, then I will fight for England.”
“I am not going to go on about it. It is just not worth it. I think I am just going to concentrate on Newcastle and if anything happens at a later stage, it happens at a later stage. Really, I have just got to get my football right for Newcastle and concentrate on moving them up in the right direction and if anything happens in the future, it happens in the future.”
Seems fair enough to me. As I said earlier, if Sol is targetting an England recall then it can only be good news for us. Joey Barton also said he would be looking for England if his performnces on the pitch deserved it, and whilst he hasn’t been called up for upcoming internationals, few can deny that he has started the season in great form.
Good luck to both of them! I think they’ll need it.
hmmm,i kinda disagree.
i don’t think is age that can’t see him back in england shirt. There are other reasons about fabio thinking.
Great Example: David Beckham. paul scholes. ;)