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Giggs to retire from international football

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Gilps

Gilps

Posted
Posted (edited)

Tee Hee

 

GIGGS HANGS UP HIS SICKNOTE

 

The Fiver doesn't care what you're doing, stop it. If you're not standing, get up on your feet. Take the roof off for one of the great international careers. Because today Ryan Giggs announced that he will play his last game for Wales on Saturday. Never mind Terry Butcher's blood-red headband or Franz Beckenbauer playing a World Cup semi-final with a broken collarbone; Giggs went the extra mile for his country, once even getting an accidental wedgie against Canada. So, in tribute, we decided to type 'Ryan Giggs', 'Wales' and 'shameless sickie' into our special Fiver Factathon Facilitator. After much whirring, a couple of hollow clunks and a disturbing rattling noise, here's what it came up with:

 

1) During his 16 years as an international footballer, Giggs didn't play a single friendly away from home.

 

2) He did once play against Brazil on neutral territory, though. At White Hart Lane. (And against a "Basque XI" too, if you're being especially picky.)

 

3) Having made his debut in 1991, Giggs missed 18 friendlies in a row before deigning to appear in one against Finland in 2000.

 

4) He has missed 27% of Wales's competitive games and 76% of their friendlies.

 

5) Retiring from a team who couldn't qualify a minor observation, never mind for a major tournament, so as to concentrate on playing for the English champions wasn't an easy decision: "I have loved playing for my country and I have loved captaining my country," gushed Giggsy. "I think it's the right time to do this. It wasn't an easy decision for me."

 

6) Since his debut Giggs has played 63 games out of a possible 12,000,004. "The number of games he has played for Wales doesn't proportionally seem to fit," said his manager John Toshack in 2004, before proudly unveiling his theory as to why Dolly Parton sleeps on her back.

 

7) Due to a series of unfortunate ailments, including 1,908 forms of hamstring knack, a malicious nosehair and a new season of The Apprentice, Giggs has missed glamour mid-season trips for friendlies in Norn Iron 1-0, Estonia, Qatar and Brazil. "You must question who arranged a game in Qatar involving an 18-hour trip with players having such a heavy playing schedule," harrumphed Lord Ferg of the friendly in Qatar, a month after yanking his players out of the FA Cup and herding them on to a plane to Brazil.

 

8) Giggs has been genuinely injured every time he has missed a game. "Every time I missed a game for Wales it has been because of a genuine injury," he said in 2001, inadvertently swallowing a fly in the process and ruling himself out of the next friendly.

 

9) Lord Ferg emphatically did not influence any of Giggs's withdrawals.

 

10) Giggs's frequent absences were in fact the Welsh public's fault, as Lord Ferg revealed in 2000: "The Welsh public have a special player in Ryan Giggs and what they must realise is that he does have a hamstring problem that does need looking after."

 

11) Every day, when Ryan Giggs wakes up, he thanks the Lord he's Welsh.

Edited by Gilps
cymrococh

cymrococh

Posted
Posted

I can only think of 4 or 5 good performances from him and most of those were in his early days when he was eager.

 

Captain through age only.

stressederic

stressederic

Posted
Posted
I can only think of 4 or 5 good performances from him and most of those were in his early days when he was eager.

 

Captain through age only.

 

Reputation and ego surely?

Nebraska Red

Nebraska Red

Posted
Posted

MADE ME LAUGH WHEN i SAW THIS HEADLINE ON yAHOO.

 

I always thought you actually had to do something before you could retire from it.

 

As a fitting tribute I am retiring today from my position as lead conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

fyds

fyds

Posted
Posted (edited)

Former Welsh manager and all-round tw*t Bobby Gould was on the radio saying that whenever a friendly was on, he would await the call from Slur which duly came in a crescendo of abuse and four letter words as to why Ryan wasn't being allowed to come out and play, and how Wales could shove it.

Edited by fyds
Cobs

Cobs

Posted
Posted
Former Welsh manager and all-round tw*t Bobby Gould was on the radio saying that whenever a friendly was on, he would await the call from Slur which duly came in a crescendo of abuse and four letter words as to why Ryan wasn't being allowed to come out and play, and how Wales could shove it.

 

he should have just put him on 'block'

Tosh

Tosh

Posted
Posted

Meanwhile, in other Welsh news....

 

 

 

Robbie Savage has renewed his attack on John Toshack by branding the national set-up an "utter shambles" and calling on the Wales manager to quit.

 

Blackburn midfielder Savage has not played for Wales since being left out of Toshack's first squad two years ago.

 

The 32-year-old, who has 39 caps, retired from international football after being excluded.

 

"It really is time Toshack called it a day. He has failed and along the way forced players to retire," Savage said.

 

"If he was honest with himself, he'd look in the mirror and say, 'I've failed' and walk away. It would be the honest and truthful thing to do."

 

 

 

Savage launched his attack on the morning before Wales play a crucial Euro 2008 qualifier against the Czech Republic in Cardiff.

 

The match will be the last in a Wales shirt for captain Ryan Giggs, who retires from international football after that match to concentrate on club duties for Manchester United.

 

"Ryan Giggs is about to play his last game against the Czech Republic and he couldn't be calling it a day at a better time. Our game is an utter shambles," Savage said.

 

"I watched the friendly against New Zealand last week, when we drew 2-2. Blimey, Blackburn beat the Kiwis last summer 5-0.

 

"That was a disaster, with no redeeming feature. Yet he (Toshack) tried to find some. It was seriously humiliating."

 

Savage says he would not return to play for Wales even if Toshack was to leave.

 

"International football is behind me now," Savage added.

 

***********

 

That last comment REALLY surprised me. ;)

 

(from the BBC site)

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