Michael Carrick has revealed that he asked not to be picked for England after becoming "depressed" on international duty.
The Manchester United midfielder, who is retiring at the end of the season, has played 34 times for his country.
Carrick has named the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as the moment when his love affair with international football ended and confessed that he asked the FA to no longer pick him for the Three Lions thereafter.
"I'd been in the squad a long time and I'll be honest, I was finding it hard going away with England," the 36-year-old told BBC Sport. "I didn't mind going away with United pre-season for three weeks or whatever and coming back, but going with England, it was almost depressing in a way.
"It made me really down, so I came to the point after South Africa where I thought: 'I can't do that again.' People would be saying: 'Pull yourself together and be grateful for it' and I understood the position I was in, the privileged position I was in, but I just found it so hard and I couldn't deal with it any more.
"I was probably on the verge of... yes, I was depressed at times, yes. I told the FA: 'Look, please don't pick me.'"
Carrick's last England appearance came against Spain in a friendly in November 2015.
Giuseppe Labellarte
