Phil Jagielka accustomed to the pressure of playing for England
Everton defender Phil Jagielka has said that his friendly appearance against Spain in 2009 helped him understand the high stakes of playing for the national team.
Jagielka made his first two appearances against the United States and Trinidad and Tobago in 2008, and played the first half in England's friendly encounter with Spain last year, as the team suffered a 2–0 defeat to the European champions.
"That turned me from a boy to a man in a way. It was a strange game, really. If you look back at the 45 minutes, five were bad and 40 were really good," Jagielka, whose missed pass allowed Villa to open the scoring in the game, told the Liverpool Daily Post.
"I was happy with my performance but the main talking point was obviously my bad decision with the pass and then not getting back to tackle."
The 28-year-old, who has been called up by Capello for Tuesday's qualifier against Montenegro at Wembley, said that his mishap in the game helped him realise the miniscule margin for error in international football.
"Unfortunately, that’s international football – if you make a mistake it’s blown up and I didn’t feel good after the game. But I would agree that it helped me to deal with the expectation of playing for your country and it took me on to the next level."
Could start ahead of Ferdinand against Montenegro
In September, Jagielka featured in both of England's opening Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland as Capello's men made a winning start to their campaign.
In particular, the defender's performance against Bulgaria led many to believe that he would continue to keep Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand out of the English starting team.
Ferdinand, who is in the process of returning from a knee injury, has been included in the squad that will face Montenegro, but it remains to be seen which of the two defenders gets Capello's nod on Tuesday.
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