Michael Carrick like so many young boys dreamt of representing his country at a major tournament and then scoring the winning goal in the final.
But that was a dream the midfielder was forced to give up. Carrick, who will walk away from football as a player entirely come the end of this season, has admitted that his England career was tarnished by a stint of depression during his peak years.
Carrick revealed to The BBC that he found being away on international duty so tough, he ended up pleading with the Football Association not to pick him after his experience at the 2010 World Cup finals.