Bent: I nearly quit England
Published 16:17 24/07/10 By Brian McNally
Sunderland striker Darren Bent has revealed that he came close to quitting international football after being left out of Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad.
Six-times capped Bent, whose 24 Premier League goals for the Black Cats last season was only bettered by one Englishman – Wayne Rooney – believes that Capello didn’t give him a fair crack of the whip.
Bent was named in Capello’s provisional 30-man squad, but was axed after the warm-up game against Japan as Capello decided to stick with Emile Heskey.
Bent said:“I felt that I was taken to Austria as a token gesture. It was as though he decided he had to take me because of the goals I’d scored.
“He took me to the training camp, gave me 45 minutes and because I didn’t score two goals, that was it. It hurt. I can’t deny that was how I felt.
“I mean, everyone on the planet knew Wayne Rooney was going to go to the World Cup so why did I only play 45 minutes and that was it?
“Everyone else got longer. It was a like a decision had already been made. So many things went through my mind. I thought ‘should I just call it a day and hang up my boots in international football?’”
