on his decision from a year earlier to retire from playing. International career 1990 World Cup Platt was given his first England cap by Bobby Robson in a friendly against Italy in November 1989, and was then included in the England squad when Robson named his 22-player squad for the 1990 World Cup. England had been drawn in Group F with Ireland, the Netherlands and Egypt. Platt came on as a substitute against the Irish and the Dutch but remained on the bench for the game against Egypt. England won the group after a 1–1 draw with Ireland, a 0–0 draw with the Dutch (in which England had two goals disallowed from Stuart Pearce and Gary Lineker) and a 1–0 win against Egypt. England qualified for the 1990 FIFA World Cup knockout stage and were drawn against Belgium. The Belgians dominated the game, hitting the post twice through Enzo Scifo. John Barnes had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside and the game ended 0–0. Platt was sent on as an extra time substitute. In the 120th minute, he scored a memorable volley on the turn from a Paul Gascoigne free-kick, his first goal for his country. Afterwards, and in reflection he said, <blockquote>"I started as a substitute. I can remember little snatches of the game: John Barnes having a volleyed goal harshly disallowed, Belgium hitting the woodwork twice, I can still see Enzo Scifo hitting the post with a tremendous strike from 25 yards. I was at the other end of the bench from Bobby Robson and didn't have much contact with him. Having since been a manager I now know that the emotions he must have been going through were far more intense than mine. I came on for Steve McMahon [in the 71st minute]."<ref name="Taylor 2010">{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/jun/18/world-cup-2010-david-platt-itlaia-90-volley-belgium| location=London | work=The Independent | first= Louise| last= Taylor| title= World Cup 2010: David Platt relives Italia 90 volley against Belgium | date=18 June 2010}}</ref></blockquote> I had an eye for getting on the end of that sort of ball and the technical ability to finish those chances off. I worked hard on practising overhead kicks and volleys in training at Aston Villa but, even so, if I had re-enacted that chance against Belgium 10 times in training the next day there's a very good chance I wouldn't have scored once from it. It was just one of life's rare, perfect