Micah Richards explains how Scott Carson once cost him £1 million | OneFootball

It's well known that, before Gareth Southgate arrived and helped change attitudes, a lot of the England players struggled to get on with one another while away on international duty. For instance, former Aston Villa forward Gabby Agbonlahor once revealed that the Manchester United players all sat together separately during meals, as did the Chelsea, and the Liverpool stars.

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Well, in another interesting anecdote from that era for the Three Lions, TV pundit and former Manchester City defender Micah Richards has outlined why he still blames ex-England teammate Scott Carson for costing him £1m in bonuses while the duo were representing their nation. It all dates back to the infamous 3-2 defeat against Croatia at Wembley when England failed to qualify for Euro 2008.

Steve McClaren's men conceded in woeful fashion when Niko Kranjcar took a pot-shot from distance and Carson fumbled the ball into his own net. Things only got worse from there as Ivica Olic doubled the deficit before the 15-minute mark. Adding to the pain, goals from Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch drew the Three Lions back level only for Mladen Petric to win the game for the away team with a 25-yard strike that flew past the England goalkeeper with ease.

Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast alongside Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer, the Sky Sports presenter opened up on the dreadful performance overseen by former manager McClaren, explaining how it cost him a huge bonus.

Richards said: "The team we had that day...we didn't have Rio [Ferdinand] or John Terry. It was a mixed-bag team. Beckham was on the bench as well. It was all over the place. But we thought we could get a draw." Lineker interjected, referencing the awful weather: "That was the brolly game, wasn't it..."

Richards then confirmed it was the match that earned McClaren – who famously stood pitch-side with an umbrella to protect himself from the rain – the unfortunate nickname "Wally with the brolly". He continued: "That was terrible! I think my player rating after that game, at best, was a two.

"But I blame Scott Carson. I blame him. I'm sorry. He's at Man City now, taking all the accolades, winning the treble, medal after medal. And he cost me a million quid. He cost me a million pounds sterling! Not euros, not pesos, not francs... that was my bonus – get to the Euros, [have] so many appearances for England, and you get more money on your contract at Man City." (Watch the video below by skipping to 31:30.)

The 35-year-old went on to explain that that was pretty much it for him as an England star as he became a "bit part player" as Fabio Capello took over from McClaren and he wasn't really in the Italian's plans. In total, Richards played just 13 times for his country, scoring once and also claiming a single assist. Though he didn't represent the Three Lions at an international tournament, he did feature for Great Britain at the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

He retired in 2019 after struggling for some time with a knee injury but has since become a well-loved TV personality, having built up arguably the biggest bromance in football with fellow Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane.