Former Manchester United coach Mick Clegg has revealed that legendary midfielder Paul Scholes 'hated' playing for England.
The Premier League winner was embroiled in a battle for a place in the Three Lions' midfield alongside Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard. But weeks after England were knocked out of Euro 2004 by Portugal on penalties, he announced his retirement from international football.
"I had a kettle in the gym so that I didn’t have to keep nipping up to the canteen for a brew," Clegg said, as reported by the Mirror. " Scholsey was always telling me to put the kettle on and one day we were having a chat about the Euros that summer.
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"He said he hated playing for England, which came as a bit of a shock. I asked him why he kept turning up and he said ‘well it’s England, that’s what you have to do’.
"Paul was worried about the reaction he would get from the rest of the country if he stopped playing for England. I asked him if he’d ever felt the same way playing for his school team or with his mates or for United - and he said that was different."
He added: "He loved that. I told him that he was being bullied into doing something that went against his own instincts.
"Not long afterwards, he packed in international football. Was it down to our chat? I don’t know because we never spoke about it again."
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