Crouch, Beckham, Cole, Le Tissier and other England outcasts

When Peter Crouch refused to be included on the stand-by list for England's Euro 2012 squad, his international career looked to be over. With England boss Roy Hodgson now looking towards building a squad for the 2014 World Cup, his latest omission of the big man, describing him as no longer "good enough", has effectively closed the lid on Crouch ever pulling on an England shirt again. We decided to take a look at a handful of other players who found themselves in the international wilderness...

Chris Sutton
During the 1997/98 season Chris Sutton's form for Blackburn Rovers earned him an international call-up, with the striker making his England debut in a friendly against Cameroon. While it looked like it could be the first of many caps for the former Norwich man, it would turn out to be his only international appearance. After being overlooked for a friendly with Chile in February 1998, Sutton then refused to play for the England 'B' team, a move that saw national boss Glenn Hoddle to declare that he would never play for England again.

David Beckham
Following England's disastrous 2006 World Cup campaign, David Beckham resigned as captain, but wouldn't have banked on new boss Steve McClaren casting him to the scrap-heap altogether. Telling the media that he would be taking the national side in a “different direction”, a series of below-par performances saw McClaren's England sitting an embarrassing fourth in their Euro 2008 qualifying group. McClaren was forced into performing a sensational u-turn and recalling Beckham just eight months later, despite insisting that he would not bow to media pressure.

David Beckham's return against Estonia in 2007

Rodney Marsh
By the early '70s Rodney Marsh was one of England's most high profile strikers, establishing himself first with Queens Park Rangers and then with Manchester City. Marsh's form earned him his England debut in a fixture against Switzerland in 1971, but his international career would be short-lived, with the striker earning a total of nine caps over the next two years. Marsh's languid style didn't sit well with England boss Alf Ramsey, and it is alleged that Ramsey told him “I'll be watching you for the first 45 minutes and if you don't work harder I'll pull you off at half time," to which Marsh replied “Crikey, Alf, at Manchester City all we get is an orange and a cup of tea.”

Andy Cole
As the old adage goes, 'He gets the ball, scores a goal, Andy, Andy Cole'. Well according to former England boss Glenn Hoddle, that wasn't true. Despite Cole regularly playing for Manchester United and having bagged 25 goals that season, he was omitted from the 1998 World Cup squad, with Hoddle accusing Cole of being wasteful and needing six or seven chances to score one goal. Cole would play for England again, but his lack of international goals saw him feature just a handful of times more.

Matt Le Tissier
Matt Le Tissier has always been a bit of an international anomaly. It has been regarded a travesty that the Southampton talisman never made it to the 1998 World Cup, and a greater shame that he only managed to muster eight caps for England. However, his international career was effectively ended following England's 1-0 defeat to Italy in a World Cup qualifier in 1997. Despite a hat-trick against Russia for England 'B' almost a year later, it looked as though Hoddle had made his mind up well in advance. The inability to play to Le Tissier's skillful strengths offered ironic parallels to Hoddle's own international playing career, but for the Southampton man, he would never play for England again.

England v Italy 1997

Should Crouch be given another chance in the England team, or has he burnt his bridges with Hodgson? Have your say on the topic by commenting below...