It was a dark dark day for England. Cars crashed, workers halted and John Motson stopped using cliches. The country came to a complete standstill when they heard the news that not one, but two English footballing giants had retired from international football. No longer will we see the safe hands of Paul Robinson in an England shirt defiantly picking a ball out of the air in a packed penalty box. No longer will we be able to breathe a sigh of relief as we see Wes Brown running back to make a crucial last-minute challenge on a Brazilian striker. How England will recover from such a loss is anyone’s guess.

Robinson was the first to make his stance known, and perhaps stunned by such a high profile loss – Wes Brown simply could not face being part of an England squad without Paul Robinson followed suit like a lemming off a cliff. England fans will be hoping that more will not do the same, I’m not sure we could take the loss of a Matthew Upson or worse still Phil Neville in such close proximity.

Or, if you look at it the other way – two mediocre players who were unlikely to add any more caps to their already commendable collections took the bizarre option of choosing not to play for England again. It begs the question, who cares?