England captain Alan Shearer ruled himself out of the 2002 World Cup on Saturday by announcing his international retirement after this summer's European championship finals.
"After a huge amount of thought I have decided to retire from international football," he said in a statement after Newcastle United beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 in the premier league. "I would like to play, if selected, in Euro 2000 and then bow out so that the manager has time to plan effectively for the 2002 World Cup," the 29-year-old striker said.
The `old guard' likely to form the backbone of England's side at the European Championships must be feeling every advancing year of their ages in the wake of Shearer's announcement. The news of Shearer's decision to quit the England team may herald an exciting future for young strikers such as Emile Heskey, Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler, as well as prospective captains like Sol Campbell.
However, the core of `thirtysomethings' within the squad will surely have aged overnight as they considered the fact that Shearer is to quit the national team before he even turns 30 in August. Kevin Keegan has always insisted that age is not his foremost consideration. After all, he recalled Stuart Pearce to the England team last year at the age of 37.
While Shearer's retirement starts a clean slate for Keegan, as well as effectively doing him a favour in removing the tricky decision of when to finally drop his captain, it also casts his ongoing dilemma of experience against youth into sharper relief. After all, while Shearer may be planning to succeed Bobby Robson as Newcastle boss, he has also admitted that it is increasingly hard to give his best for club and country with so many fixtures taking the toll on his fitness levels.
On the positive side, the talents of 22-year-old Heskey, 20-year-old Owen and 24-year-old Fowler offer hope for the future. The Leicester centre forward's powerful display against Argentina certainly proved his immense promise, even if his goalscoring record remains a concern.
And if - as speculation insists - he is bound for Liverpool this summer, Keegan may well find himself in the same position as Gerard Houllier in perming two from that trio, although he has also spoken positively about Heskey's link-ups with Kevin Phillips in training. However, the England coach will be fully aware that, apart from Shearer, there are perilously few players in even a full-strength squad who have scored more than a handful of goals for England.
Shearer's total of 28 contrasts with Paul Scholes' nine, Darren Anderton's seven and Owen's six, while Fowler, Heskey, Phillips and Andy Cole are all yet to score for their country.
