Goalkeeper Paul Robinson retires from international football
After being named a member of the England squad for the friendly against Hungry Paul Robinson announced his immediate retirement from international games. The England international footballer Paul Robinson has announced his intention to retire from international football after he pulled out of the England Squad for the forthcoming friendly against Hungary.
Robinson who was not included in this year’s World Cup team said, "I've taken the decision to retire from international football with immediate effect. Only now have I been able to make this decision as previously I have not been in contention or selected for the squad. "As a professional who wants every chance to play football, I do not see myself as No3 or No4 goalkeeper. I find that role very frustrating. I haven't had the opportunity to be anything other than this in recent years. Therefore I feel it's in the best interests of myself and my club, Blackburn Rovers, that I concentrate solely on my club football. I wish the England team every success."
Fabio Capello announced his squad for the match on Saturday night which included Robinson; however, he will not be replaced for Wednesday’s match.
Since his debut international match against Australia in 2003 Robinson has played in 41 internationals and he was first choice goal keeper for the 2006 World Cup. However, he made some costly mistakes during Euro 2008 under Steve McClaren and lost his place as number one choice.
Robinson missed a Gary Neville back-pass which resulted in an own goal during the 2 – 0 defeat in Croatia, and in a 2 -1 defeat against Russia he only managed to palm a long range shot into Roman Pavlyuchenko’s path which gave the Russians the winning goal. After these mistakes he was not selected for two years and he was only recalled by Capello after David James was injured during the World Cup 2010 qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Andorra.
After joining the Rovers in July 2008, Robinson showed signs of finding his best form again when he saved two penalties in a shoot out against Chelsea which resulted in his team reaching the Carling Cup semi-finals. Sam Allardyce, Blackburn’s manager wanted Robinson to be selected for the World Cup team but James, Joe Hart and Robert Green were chosen instead.
