Time catches up with Ashley Cole as England opt to look to the future | Dominic Fifield

The Chelsea left-back had anticipated that he was not going to Brazil, but his deflation gave way to a realism in which he praised Roy Hodgson and his England team-mates

Ashley Cole knew what to expect when his mobile trilled. The sense of shock may not have been quite as profound as on that infamous occasion when Arsenal's contract offer was relayed to him by his agent as he drove, prompting him almost "to swerve off the road", but this was a player wounded. England's most capped left-back, one of eight centurions and a defender who has started all of his country's games at major finals since 2002, would not be in Brazil. Roy Hodgson's request to retain him on the stand-by list was always likely to be declined.

Yet, by the time he took to Twitter to confirm the end of an international career the like of which an England left-back has never previously known, that initial deflation had given way to realism. Cole was gracious in praise of the manager, wished his team-mates "only success", and lauded those who will replace him, Leighton Baines for now and Luke Shaw in the longer term, as "the future of this country". His hurt at having to call it a day reflected raw emotion. His recent run back in the Chelsea first-team, with impressive displays against elite opposition, had appeared to cement his place in Hodgson's plans. In the end, however, the management pinned their hopes on youth.

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via Chelsea | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1lkKUPY