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12 July 2018

Cahill Ponders England Retirement  (Sky Sports)

Gary CahillGary Cahill will hold talks with England boss Gareth Southgate this month as he considers the possibility of international retirement.

The 32-year-old has featured just once at the World Cup, coming into the side as one of eight changes for England's final group game against Belgium.

He could be brought in against the same opposition when England play the third-place play-off in Saint Petersburg on Saturday and that could prove to be the Chelsea defender's last match for his country.

"I'm going to have a good conversation with the manager about the future in the coming month," Cahill said.

"But I can finish my England career knowing I've played every possible fixture I can play in the times I've been selected.

"(The play-off) is a very strange game, because it's a fixture for two teams coming off the back of a disappointment, but the game is there and we need to play it.

"So if you're asking if I want to play, yeah, I do. If selected I'll go out and give it everything I've got."

Speaking after England's extra-time defeat to Croatia, Cahill remained positive and insists the future is bright for the young squad.

"Everyone is gutted, everyone is upset - unless you win this tournament there's always going to be a bad feeling when you go out, whatever stage it is," he said.

"We just fell short at the second to last hurdle but as a team we should be very proud of ourselves and, for me, looking at that young squad, we should just feel positive about the future.

"And if, and it's a big if, you can keep the squad progressing in the way I've seen in training over the last 50 or so days that we've been together, well, I think it's only a matter of time before they get their hands on some silverware."



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