Robbo retires from England duty

08 August 2010 10:00
Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson has announced his retirement from international football after withdrawing from the England squad to face Hungary at Wembley on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was included in the squad named by Fabio Capello after being overlooked for this summer's World Cup in South Africa. But the former Leeds and Tottenham keeper has now opted to concentrate on club football, although he will not be replaced in the squad for Wednesday's friendly. Robinson won 41 caps for his country, having made his debut against Australia in 2003, and he was first choice during qualifying for the 2006 World Cup and for the finals themselves. But he lost his place after making some costly errors as England missed out on qualification for Euro 2008 under Steve McClaren. His failure to connect with a Gary Neville back pass resulted in an own goal in the 2-0 defeat in Croatia, and he could only palm a long-range shot into Roman Pavlyuchenko's path to concede the winner in a 2-1 defeat against Russia.

Source: PA