Carragher: Losing with England hurt less than Liverpool

Jamie Carragher has revealed that an England defeat “never hurt me in the same way as losing with my club.”

The Liverpool defender retired from international football in July last year after complaining he was constantly being overlooked as a central defender for the national team.

The 30-year-old won 34 caps, the last of which saw him miss a penalty as England went out of the 2006 World Cup against Portugal in a shootout.

However, Carragher has now revealed: “I would rather miss for England than LFC.”

Carragher wrote in ’Carra, My Autobiography’, serialised in the Daily Mirror: “Representing your country is the ultimate honour, especially in the World Cup. Not to me.

“Did I care we’d gone out of the tournament? Of course I did. Passionately.

“I’ve never given less than 100% in any game.

“Despite this, whenever I returned home from disappointing England experiences one unshakeable, overriding thought pushed itself to the forefront of my mind, no matter how much the rest of the nation mourned.

“’At least it wasn’t Liverpool,’ I’d repeat to myself, over and over.

“The text messages of consolation I received on the coach included one from Kenny Dalglish.

“’I would rather miss for England than LFC,’ I wrote back.

“I confess: defeats wearing an England shirt never hurt me in the same way as losing with my club.

“I wasn’t caring or indifferent, I simply didn’t put England’s fortunes at the top of my priority list.

“Losing felt like a disappointment rather than a calamity.

“I was never in love with playing for England in the first place.

“By the time I stopped I felt a huge weight lifting.”