Number of caps: 1 Remember the heady days of Sven Goran Eriksson? England's first ever foreign coach was hounded out of the country following successive quarter final finishes at major tournaments (and how England would long for that now), and his reign looked back on with bitterness due to the failure of the so-called Golden Generation. It's easy to forget now, but back in his early days optimism was unbridled. Eriksson came to England from Serie A side Lazio and had never managed in the country. What that meant is that - in his early squad selections anyway - he ignored reputations and simply called up the players who impressed him. For his first outing uncapped West Ham youngsters Joe Cole and Michael Carrick got the call, but the biggest shocks were reserved for Charlton's Chris Powell and Sunderland's Gavin McCann. McCann came on as a sub for Nicky Butt in the Swede's first game, a 3-0 friendly win over Spain (back when Spain were skillful but unreliable). It was to be his first and last appearance for his country. A willing but limited trier, McCann quickly showed his true form and even Eriksson realised pretty quickly that he was not cut out for England.
David is an office drone and freelance writer for WhatCulture and Moviepilot, among others. He's also foolishly writing a serialised novel on Jukepop and has his own irregularly updated website. He's available for freelance work. Reach out on Twitter to @davefox990
