Wayne Bridge had time to think about it. He would have talked at length with his agent, his family and his team-mates at Manchester City about his dilema and probably sat on the team bus mulling it over for hours.
All of which makes his decision to withdraw from the England set-up, and sacrifice a place at the World Cup finals, by the far the most shocking of all the sorry revelations to eminate from Fabio Capello's squad in recent weeks.
Those close to Bridge surely offered the best, and only rational advice. They would have told him he'd worked his whole life for an opportunity like South Africa, and he owed it to himself to put his blinkers on and get on the plane.
Forget your pride. Or you'll spend the rest of your life wondering what could have been. Especially with Ashley Cole injured. Especially with England among the favourites to win the competition.
Do you really want to be the Pete Best of English football?
It's clear he felt horribly betrayed by John Terry, and perhaps Terry's standing within the England camp is so strong that it would have been Bridge - and not the love-rat Chelsea captain - would have been pushed to the fringes of the social scene.
But you don't have to like the people you work with. If that was true, nobody would ever play with Craig Bellamy.
Bridge's decision clearly came as a shock to Capello, who until this morning assumed the City full-back would slot in alongside Terry at Wembley next week.
That Bridge blind-sided the powerful Italian does not bode well for his future beyond the World Cup. If Capello stays in charge it's almost impossible to see a route back into the set-up for Bridge after South Africa.
He's committed international football suicide. And he's made the worst decision of his life. Shame on those around him for not applying the necessary pressure to change his mind.
- Football.co.uk
Source: DSG
