first cap for the senior England team, coming on as a substitute against Hungary. He made his full international début against Netherlands at White Hart Lane in 2001, and later came on as a substitute in England's famous 5–1 victory over Germany in the Olympiastadion. Carragher missed the 2002 FIFA World Cup to undergo surgery on a knee injury; though he had the option to delay surgery this would have required him to miss pre-season training with Liverpool. He was selected for UEFA Euro 2004 but did not play a game, Ledley King being preferred in his position. He was later selected for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and although not in the original starting eleven, he replaced Gary Neville who suffered an injury. Carragher was one of three players to have a penalty saved by Portugal's Ricardo, as England yet again succumbed to a penalty shoot-out exit in the quarter-finals. Carragher, who had been brought on as a substitute for Aaron Lennon late in the game, scored with his first attempt but was forced to re-take his penalty by the referee Horacio Elizondo who had not blown his whistle. His shot hit the bar from the follow-up attempt. During a Euro 2008 qualifier, against Israel, in Tel Aviv, Carragher hit the bar with a looping header as the match ended goalless. On 9 July 2007 it was reported that Carragher was considering retiring from the England squad. When Talksport host Adrian Durham accused Carragher of "bottling it" on his programme, Carragher phoned in to defend himself and say that as he was not being regularly selected he was indeed thinking about retirement, but would leave it until the upcoming match against Germany to decide. Carragher did subsequently retire from international football, although he left open the possibility to return if needed for an international tournament. In his autobiography, he stated a number of reasons for his retirement: he prioritized Liverpool over England, he wanted to spend more time with his family, and most of all he was unwilling to feature as a squad player. On 11 May 2010, it was announced that Carragher had been named in Fabio Capello's preliminary 30-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Carragher said of his return to international football, "The FA got in touch a few weeks ago and asked if I would have a rethink, due to injury problems; I said