Jonathan Swain on Cole quitting England duty
Ashley Cole has retired from international football after being left out of England's World Cup squad.
Jonathan Swain has more in his blog...
So Ashley Cole says he is making way for younger players but in truth he know that he's not the player he once was and the harsh reality is that he's not good enough to play for his country anymore.
He's struggling to get into the Chelsea team this season so a plane ticket to Brazil was always going to be an ambitious desire for him.
He tweeted last night ahead of Roy Hodgson naming the England squad today:
He went on to thank fans and praise fellow international defenders Leighton Baines and Luke Shaw. England manager Hodgson said leaving Cole out of his squad for Brazil was "one of the hardest decisions of my career".
Cole had won 107 caps for the Three Lions, after making his debut against Albania in March 2001.
So, he may want to be there this summer but he'll be watching the World Cup rather than playing in it.