Honestly mate thats a load of codswallop, when the same governing body that controls international football doing things like expanding the European championships or World Cup so we have the likes of Germany, England and Spain etc having to play 'competitive' fixtures against the likes of Gibraltar and the Faeroe Islands, Questionable awards and bribery of officials to award certain countries the major tournaments, the absolute joke which will be the world cup played in winter in a desert dictatorship and the obscenity that is players earning 300k or more each week
And you expect amongst all that the players to be the one thing that rises above and proudly kisses the national badge and all that rubbish.
Beckham was driven partly by self interest in representing England, it kept his profile high in the sports pages back in the UK whilst he was swanning off playing in a third rate American league whilst still not massively away from his peak, but yeah it was all for the love of Country mate if it makes you happy to believe so.
More noble to retire from it when past their peak and give the younger generation their chance if you want to create a alternate spin on how it could be perceived, well that and the fact that the club/fans who are paying them 100-300k per week will actually get the chance to see them perform
Also interesting to note how no one mentions the national federations who quite often crap all over a player from a massive height, for example, if you play for a none fashionable club much less chance of being called up, but when they need you - well ya drop everything and run cap in hand to them, utter rubbish, i'd wager the majority of Evertonians couldn't give a flying you know what about the England national side and if all our players decided to retire from International duty I'd be more than pleased
