Sol won't give up on England

Defender aiming to catch Capello's eye

Last updated: 2nd September 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Sol won't give up on England

Campbell: Determined

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Newcastle new boy Sol Campbell is refusing to call time on his international career with England.

The experienced defender, who will turn 36 later this month, believes he still has what it takes to play for his country.

Campbell, who made his first appearance for Newcastle in the reserves in midweek, believes he is still capable of performing at the highest level and if he impresses for the Magpies this season he can win a call-up from Fabio Capello.

"I think it all comes down to who is at the helm and the people behind the associations," Campbell said.

"They are going to make all the decisions and it is also the mentality of the nation. You go to Italy and defenders and goalkeepers can go on and on and on really.

"You can roll the names off of the guys who have played well into their late 30s at international level so I think it sometimes goes down to mentality.

"It doesn't matter where you are at with your age, if you are fit and you are strong and you are physically there and you want it, then you have got the experience so I think there should be no problem really."

Passion

Asked if he still had what it takes to play for England again, Campbell added: "I think last season for sure. I have still got it. 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. 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. But I am not going to go on about it. It is just not worth it.

"Last season I worked really hard and I think I showed to all the people that if you work hard then you are there. If you get an opportunity, you get an opportunity but it really comes down to the people behind the scenes and the manager.

"You can't do anything about it. I could have scored 10 goals in the first half of the season. It doesn't matter."

Campbell has not played for his country since Capello took charge and he jokingly suggested his cause may have been helped had he followed the example of Jamie Carragher and Paul Scholes by announcing his international retirement.

"No I never mentioned that I was retiring, but then maybe I should have retired and maybe he would have brought me out," joked Campbell. "Who knows?"

Comments (1)

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John Lacey (Leeds United fan) says...

Sol, give it up big man....England need to wholly restructure the team not bring those who are well over the crest of the wave !

Posted 08:12 2nd September 2010
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