Man Utd legend once received guard of honour from England players in training

Paul Scholes was so good during one England training session that he received a guard of honour from his teammates.

That’s according to Kieron Dyer, who represented the Three Lions on 33 occasions between 1999-2007.

Scholes retired from international duty three years earlier than Dyer, aged just 29, following Euro 2004.

“It’s straightforward – he wants to spend more time with his family,” Manchester United’s manager at the time, Sir Alex Ferguson, revealed.

“I spoke to Paul nearly a year ago about it when he came to see me and wanted to think about it.

“At the end of the season before he left he said he’d speak to Sven [Goran Eriksson] about it and he did that and he’s come to his decision.

“Paul has made a great contribution to England and I don’t think he feels he’s missing anything now.

“I think 66 caps is beyond an average international career, he is going out at the top and we respect his decision.”

But when you consider what Scholes went on to achieve with Man Utd between 2004-2013, it’s a massive shame for England that they weren’t able to persuade him to continue representing his country.

We’re talking about one of the most gifted footballers that England has ever produced.

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Writing in his 2018 autobiography ‘Old Too Soon, Smart Too Late: My Story’, Dyer said that Scholes is the best footballer he played with during his career and told a story about how the midfielder once received a guard of honour during one particularly outstanding performance in training.

“Paul Scholes was the best player I played with and people like Xavi and Zinedine Zidane counted him as their favourite player,” Dyer wrote, per The Daily Mail.

“Other nations would have used him as their fulcrum but Sven