Most footballers dream of playing for their countries at big international tournaments such as the world cup. Manchester United’s Michael Carrick has however revealed that it was different for him and that playing internationally made him depressed.
During a 12-year spell, Carrick has won 18 major trophies with United which has included five Premier League titles as well as the Champions League title in 2008.
However whilst he represented England from 2001-2015, he only went on to gain 34 international caps and only once featured at an international tournament which was the 2010 world cup in South Africa.
He did not even enjoy this experience and revealed that it made him depressed.
“I was finding it hard going away with England. I didn’t mind going away with United on pre-season for the three weeks or whatever but going away with England it was almost depressing in a way, it made me really down,” Carrick told the BBC’s Premier League Show.
“It came to a point after South Africa I thought I can’t do that again. People will say ‘pull yourself together and be grateful for it’.
“I understood the privileged position I was in, but I just found it so hard and I couldn’t deal with it anymore. I was depressed at times, I told the FA please don’t pick me.”
