Podolski, Romero, Daei: 11 footballers who were better for country over club

International football is a completely different ball park to the club game.

Be it the pool of talent a country has available due to their size and stature, the quality of the football within that country, the access they’ve got to funding – everything matters and effects how they play.

And with the international game much less frequent, but also reliant on tournament style formats rather than drawn out seasons, it’s difficult for managers to implement various different styles of football. Often, those who can get along with their players and keep the football simple will thrive.

Certain players also feel the difference. The status quo for major countries and big players is often that international breaks can be a hinderance to their domestic season, but there are actually just as many players who relish those international breaks and camps, be it as an escape to find form, or simply because they live for the international game.

Perhaps one of the strangest quirks in football is seeing a player frequently star on the international stage, but consistently amount to very little when club football comes back around. GIVEMESPORT has picked out 11 of the best examples of players who thrived only on the international call-up.

Before his stint as Manchester United number two , Romero’s club football highlights weren’t all that special. He’d floated from AZ Alkmaar to Sampdoria without amounting to much, but was always the man between the sticks for Argentina, where he would suddenly look world class. He currently sits on 96 caps and is only just winding down after being their go-to goalkeeper for so long.

Remembered by most Premier League fans for his spell with Sunderland, Gyan was very much a streets won’t forget calibre