Nani scored a brilliant goal in Portugal’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Bosnia-Herzegovina tonight to put them 2-0 up after Cristiano Ronaldo’s opener.

“After a great deal of thought and with a heavy heart, I have decided the time is right for me to retire from international football,” Vidic told the official site. “I feel, after 10 years of playing for my country, it is the right time for me to stand aside and allow the younger players to come through. I would like to thank all the managers, coaches and players I have played alongside. I have always been very proud to play for Serbia and would like to wish them well in future tournaments.”

There is the possibility that these comments were made in the heat of the moment, with our captain bitterley disappointed about the result. Serbia needed just one goal to qualify for Euro 2012 and the fact Vidic missed a penalty yesterday rubs salt in the wounds.

“I really don’t know,” he said. “But if you want me to say that, then I can say it – yes, this was my last game. It’s time for a change of generations, and for some older players to say goodbye to Serbian kit.”

Vidic represented Yugoslavia at youth level, playing all the way up through to U-21 level, before representing Serbia and Montenegro in qualifying for Euro 2004. He made his debut against Italy on October 12th 2002 and went on to play 57 games for his country.

His retirement from International football would obviously be a great thing for United, given that he is still only 29-years-old. Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs have enjoyed longer careers with the club after retiring from representing their countries and it would be great to get more years out of Vidic.

Rooney broke Law 12 and was charged with using “offensive, insulting and/or abusive language”. Despite players directing this language at referees and opponents on a weekly basis and receiving no punishment, the FA banned Rooney for two games. They claimed that because his language had been directed at a camera he deserved a ban, despite the law making no mention or reference to this. According to the FA, abusing a referee is acceptable but saying “fucking” on camera is worthy of a ban.

Regardless, on Friday night, Rooney lost his temper and took a swipe at his opponent in England’s game against Montenegro. He managed some control, pulling back before making any real contact, and the player accepted his hand straight away. However, the referee was left with little option but to send him off.

Rooney now stands to miss England games in next summer’s Euro 2012 and the FA are all too aware of how important he is to the team. They have put in an appeal to UEFA in the hope he will receive just a one match ban.

“We have been working very hard behind the scenes to ensure that we are prepared to support Wayne in any way we can,” said the FA’s director of communications, Adrian Bevington. “If it does lead to an appeal process, or any supplementary evidence we can submit to support him, we are not disputing that he was sent off for a red-card offence, but it is very important to us as an organisation that we try and look after all our players. And I would like to say, on the record, that Wayne conducted himself incredibly well after the game. He was very apologetic and I felt he handled it very maturely. We will do all that we can to try and ensure that Wayne is available to us as soon as possible in the finals.”

This statement is particularly interesting when you consider that Rooney “conducted himself incredibly well” after the West Ham game too and was “very apologetic” then as well. He even released a statement saying how sorry he was. The FA didn’t take that in to consideration in his appeal though and banned him for two games, meaning he missed out on our crucial FA Cup semi-final against City.

Whilst of course I want the best for Rooney in this situation, I won’t lose any sleep if the FA find England without their best player for two or three games.

“The FA may realise who has produced more players for their country than any club in the world,” said Ferguson this summer. “Maybe they will get some joy from it and realise how important we are to England instead of treating us like shit.”

What goes around comes around.

Fabio Capello has incredibly claimed that England will try different striking options in their friendly against Spain and if the new players do well, Rooney will lose his place in the starting XI.

“I need to find the solution for the first game, or two games, that Rooney will not play,” said Capello. “And if we find that solution, he needs to work to return to the first 11. You know me. Sometimes I make mistakes but I try to select the best players, in the best moment of form.”

When asked if he was really prepared to leave Rooney out even if available for selection, Capello replied: “Yes. In my life as a manager I have put on the bench a lot of players. I always decided who was the best player at that moment.”

Let’s be honest, Jermaine Defoe or Darren Bent could score a hattrick against Spain, there’s no way Rooney won’t be the first name on the team sheet for every possible game next summer. Who are you trying to kid, Fabio?

Wayne Rooney was sent off in England’s last game against Montenegro which gave Welbeck the opportunity to show what he could do.

“We moved on as a team,” said Joe Hart after the game. “Welbeck did really well upfront after he came on and did a great job.”

Injuries have hit the U-21 team though, leaving Stuart Pearce with few attacking options. With a qualifying game in Norway on Monday, Pearce gave Sir Alex Ferguson a call to see if Welbeck would be available, but the manager turned him down.

“I spoke to Alex straight after the game,” said Pearce. “I think it was important that we got the game out of the way, the senior game, to find out who contributed within the game. I spoke with Alex and he had concerns about travelling from Montenegro and then getting on planes and coming to Oslo and I quite understood that, to be fair. I had to make the call because we have only got one striker in the squad so we had a decent chat. I thanked him for his help and consideration and we moved on from there and I quite understood his position.”

Rooney will now miss at least one game in the tournament next summer but Neville reckons the media attention our striker has received since has distracted people from the real issues, such as the fact England just aren’t very good.

“My heart sunk as I watched Wayne Rooney being sent off,” said Neville. “But not for the same reason as most people watching the game, who will be talking about how he never learns and how he lets everyone down. The most disappointing thing about his red card is that it distracts from the major issue. With England, we’re always looking for an excuse; we’re always caught up in the minor rather than the major. The real issue is that the spine of the team is not good enough, as it stands, to take on Spain, Italy, France or Germany at Euro 2012. When I look at it coldly, a team that has John Terry, Gary Cahill, Scott Parker, Gareth Barry, Darren Bent and Rooney in its central positions is nowhere near good enough to take on the major nations such as Spain.”

Neville has also reflected on the hopes this country has pinned on his former Manchester United team mates, Rooney and David Beckham, ahead of International tournaments.

“Going into major tournaments we always put all our pressure and hopes on one man,” he said. “I’ve seen it before with Rooney in 2006 and 2010 or David Beckham in 2002. Even before them, it was Kevin Keegan or Bryan Robson in the Seventies and Eighties.”

Nani scored Portugal’s opening two goals on Friday in their 5-3 victory over Iceland.

Scholes has claimed another damaging element was the rivalry between United and Liverpool players, with the dislike between them effecting the atmosphere.

“There is a big rivalry between clubs in this country and it isn’t healthy when you go away on international duty,” he said. “When I was with England, there was always a lot of United players and Liverpool players in the squad and it was obvious that some of our lads didn’t like some of their boys and some of their lads didn’t like some of us.”