MUHAMMAD USMAN AWAN
International career
Born in Cardiff with Welsh parents, Giggs represented Wales at international level. As a youngster, Giggs captained England Schoolboys. Contrary to popular belief, he was never eligible for the full England team (eligibility at the schoolboy level depends solely upon the location of the school, in Giggs' case Moorside High School in Salford). He has stated that he would have chosen to play for Wales anyway. When he made his international debut in 1991, he broke the record as the youngest debutant for Wales and held it for some seven years when it was broken by Ryan Green in June 1998. He went on to win 64 caps, and scored twelve goals for the Welsh national team between 1991 and 2007. He was appointed captain of Wales in 2004.
Giggs received criticism for his reluctance to participate in friendly international matches. Since his début in 1991 against Germany, Giggs failed to attend a friendly international until some nine years later, when he then missed 18 consecutive friendly games. The official reason given for such absences was that Giggs was injured on each occasion. However, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson in fact had a policy of refusing to release the player for friendly games.
During a 2006 World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan on 12 October 2005, Giggs scored a rare double in a 2–0 win but Wales failed to reach the play-offs. In September 2006, he played in a friendly against Brazil at White Hart Lane. Such was his display that, following the 2–0 win for Brazil, Brazil coach Dunga paid Giggs the compliment by stating he would not look out of place playing for the five-time world champions alongside stars such as Kaká and Ronaldinho.
To surprise of some, Giggs announced his retirement from international football on Wednesday 30 May 2007 at a press conference held at The Vale of Glamorgan Hotel, drawing the curtain on a 16-year international career. He cited concentrating on his United career as the main reason for stepping down. His final game for Wales, and as captain, was the Euro 2008 qualifier against the Czech Republic on 2 June at Cardiff. He earned his 64th cap in this game and won the Man of the Match award as Wales drew 0–0. In November, he was one of three players in the final nomination by the FAW for the Wales Player of the Year award, which was ultimately won by Craig Bellamy.
In an interview with the Western Mail on 26 March 2010, Giggs hinted that he might be tempted to come out of international retirement for his country's UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, in order to cover for the injured Aaron Ramsey. However, he later clarified his position to BBC Radio Manchester, saying that he would only return to Wales duty in an emergency.
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