Representing ones national team is often the highlight of a player’s career – and many young Englishmen dream of one day being able to pull on the Three Lions.
However, for some, that ecstasy is soon gone and as quick as they’ve arrived in the England set-up, they’re cast back into oblivion. England has had its fair share of ‘one cap wonders’, and Daily Star Sport is looking at some of its most famous.
From tough tackling centre-halves and a man with the best strike rate England has ever seen to one man who will be looking to right his biggest wrong in Qatar.
Neil Ruddock
(Image: Bob Thomas Sports Photography via Getty Images)
Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock has the distinct accomplishment of being labelled as the 17th hardest footballer of all time.
Ruddock was a supremely gifted tough-tackling centre-half, and shortly after making a move to Liverpool, he received his England call-up. There might have been some in the England camp who opposed his call-up: “I only meant to break one of his legs, not both,” he once quipped.
But those cub rivalries were put aside as Ruddock pulled on the white shirt for a must-see-one-time-only clash with Nigeria.
Are there any uncapped England players who deserve a call-up? Let us know in the comments section below
Chris Sutton
(Image: ExpressStar)
Chris Sutton was one of the most clinical strikers of his time, and alongside Alan Shearer at Blackburn, the pair fired Rovers to the Premier League title.
However, Sutton only has one England cap to his name: an 11-minute substitute appearance against Cameroon. The reason for Sutton’s short career was due to his relationship with then-England boss Glenn Hoddle.
Sutton was snubbed for the 1998 World Cup team and then relegated to the B team where he refused to play, leading to Hoddle never picking him again.
David Dunn
Who is the king of the Rabona? That quintessential samba skill that involves wrapping your foot around the back of the other, many point towards Neymar or Ronaldo.
However, for the football purist, there is only one answer, and that’s David Dunn – who attempted the skill for Blackburn only to kick his own leg and fall over. However, Mr Rabona did manage a sole England appearance in 2002.
Dunn had a cameo appearance for the Three Lions in a clash with Portugal.
David Nugent
(Image: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Perhaps the most infamous name on this list, David Nugent is fondly remembered for blasting the ball into an empty net to score on his one and only England outing.
Jermain Defoe thought he had rounded off England’s night with a third against Andorra when the ball squeezed under the Andorran keeper. But an onrushing Nugent had other ideas as he slammed the ball home as it crossed the line.
Nugent recently revealed to The Times that strangers still rib him on the street over the strike.
Joey Barton
(Image: GETTY)
Joey Barton was always a controversial figure in football – and with England’s ‘Golden Generation’ in full swing, the midfielder muscled his way into the Three Lions.
Barton’s England career was limited to an 18-minute cameo when Steve McClaren called him off the bench in a clash with Spain in 2007. In a drab England performance, Xabi Alonso produced a moment of magic to fire Spain to a 1-0 victory.
“I thought I should’ve been in the three or four squads before that, so I thought I was never getting in,” Barton later told talkSPORT.
Jon Flanagan
(Image: Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
The Scouse Cafu – as Jon Flanagan was fondly known on Merseyside – had the world at his feet in the early 2010s, and he even earned a cap against Ecuador in 2014.
However, after falling out of favour at Anfield, and a poor spell at Rangers, Flanagan moved to the continent. The full-back floundered at Belgian side Charleroi before Daniel Agger offered him one last chance at HB Koge in Denmark.
After leaving the Scandinavian side Flanagan couldn’t find another club and hung up his boots at 29-years-old.
James Maddison
(Image: Getty Images)
I mean, well, he does only have one cap… your move Gareth!
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