Frank Lampard to make international retirement decision after World Cup
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Version 0 of 1. Frank Lampard has said he will wait until he returns to England from the World Cup before he decides whether to end his international career. When Roy Hodgson announced Lampard would lead England in their final match against Costa Rica on Tuesday, many took it as a sign that this would be the midfielder’s international swan song. Lampard played every minute of England’s previous two World Cup campaigns, but he has not yet featured at all in Brazil this summer. However the 105-cap midfielder, who turned 36 last Friday, has not ruled out the possibility of carrying on playing for his country until Euro 2016, though. “I don’t know whether I will [retire] or not,” Lampard told BBC Radio Five Live. “I am going to get home and make a decision at that point because I have my own [club] future to sort out as well. “This is not the time and place to make the decision. Sometimes when you are away for a month you don’t always come up with the right judgement.” Lampard made the decision to leave Chelsea before flying out to Brazil with the England squad. Should he take up an offer to move to the United States, where there is reported interest from New York City FC, his chances of playing for England would likely decrease – as they did for David Beckham and Jermain Defoe. José Mourinho recently tipped Lampard to be a future Chelsea manager, a remark that was warmly received by the midfielder. “It is nice to hear José say that. In any capacity I would love to be involved at Chelsea – whether it be as manager, or just going back watching from the stands. “I have a good relationship with him [Mourinho]. I always will. He was a big influence on my career and the club is special to me. I don’t know what I will do after football but if there was any club I would want to manage then everyone knows who it would be. “It has been my life for the past 13 years and it will continue to be no matter what happens in the future.” Lampard watched on helplessly from the bench as Uruguay beat England 2-1 on Thursday before Costa Rica beat Italy on his birthday to send England out in the World Cup group stages for the first time since 1958. “It wasn’t a great birthday,” he said. “It was just another day here because of what happened against Uruguay and in the Italy game. These tournaments only come around every four years, when they are gone they are gone. It’s not like the Premier League when you have a match the following weekend and you can put it right.” Lampard, playing at his third World Cup, hopes England’s inexperienced players will not be mentally scarred by their early World Cup exit. “I have had nights where you fly home from South Africa and Germany and they are horrible at the time but you can only use them in the positive in the long term,” he said. “You can’t concentrate on them in a bad way, you need to use that as inspiration to not want it to happen again.” |