Player Profile
Barry spent four years in the international wilderness until February 2007 but his importance to the balance of the current England side is underlined by the fact that Fabio Capello bent his own rules to take the midfielder to the World Cup.
Coach Capello always maintained he would only take “100% fit” players with him to South Africa, but Barry was still receiving treatment for damaged ankle ligaments when named in the squad, having suffered the injury playing for Manchester City against Tottenham in the penultimate game of the Premier League season.
Since his international debut a decade ago, Barry has won caps under six different England managers; Kevin Keegan, Howard Wilkinson, Peter Taylor, Sven-Goran Eriksson, Steve McClaren and Fabio Capello.
The 29-year-old joined Manchester City for £12m last summer but the club narrowly missed out on giving him the Champions League football he cited as a reason for leaving Aston Villa, where he spent 12 years.