The England team is made up of renowned footballers, recognized both locally and internationally. However, in 2007 and against Brazil, an unknown player took the field with a very brief time in the Premier League.
In the run-up to today’s clash between the two world champion teams, this story emerges again. The setting in which it occurred is the same one that will host the new friendly: the legendary London stadium of Wembley.
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In 2007, for the premiere of the stadium rebuilt on the same site where the old Wembley used to operate, England and Brazil played. The coach of the Three Lions at that time was Steve McClaren, who surprised by calling up Nicky Shorey, a left-back with experience mainly in promotion football and a good level in the Reading squad that managed to reach the Premier League in the season. 2005-2006.
His performances made the fans of his team usually sing a song in which they asked that he be called up to the national team. This recognition earned him being named to England B, a secondary team of players who are not usually part of the first team.
A place among great stars
McClaren was satisfied with his level and called him up to play against Brazil, given the injuries of Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge, regular left backs in that team. And not only that: Shorey started and played the full 90 minutes alongside big stars like David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard. On the other side, he had to mark Ronaldinho and Kaká.
A REMINDER:
Nicky Shorey ( @nickyshorey22 ) made his England debut at Wembley against Brazil in 2007. pic.twitter.com/kGeb8Pdwqq
— Football Remind (@FootballRemind) April 4, 2015
That match ended 1-1 with goals from John Terry for the English and Diego for the five-time champion. But the result was the least important for Shorey, who had one more match at the international level: against Estonia, for qualification for Euro 2008.
“It seems a bit surreal now,” the protagonist of this novel told a podcast in 2020. “If you’re going to get the chance to play for England, it doesn’t really matter who you play against or what match, but if you can choose a match… “It’s Brazil and at the new Wembley, what you know will go down in history,” he added.
