Four former Macclesfield footballers to have played in a World Cup
By Alex Greensmith
29th Nov 2022 | Local News
The FIFA World Cup is in full swing, and as England play Wales tonight, we thought we'd look back at Macclesfield's World Cup connections.
Here are four ex-Macclesfield footballers who were included in a FIFA World Cup squad.
Rickie Lambert
Infamously working in a beetroot factory when Macclesfield gave him a chance, Rickie Lambert would see a stunning rise twelve years after his last Macclesfield appearance to play for England at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The last footballer to be capped for England who had played for Macclesfield Town, Rickie Lambert played for the Silkmen between 2001 and 2002.
Our town's defunct football club gave Lambert his first chance at professional first team football. Lambert would score a goal in every four games he played for Macc. In total, Lambert netted 10 goals in 40 appearances across all competitions.
He also took his first-ever career penalty for our town's old football club, missing in an 11-10 FA Cup win against Forest Green Rovers in November 2001.
Macclesfield Town received a record transfer fee from local rivals Stockport County in April 2002, making the short trip to join the The Hatters for £300,000. He'd then move his way up the Football League netting in double figures for Rochdale and Bristol Rovers, before scoring 106 goals for Southampton between 2009 and 2014, that would then attract the interest of Wembley Stadium and Anfield.
Lambert made a cameo appearance in the ill-fated 2014 World Cup for England. He came on in the 87th minute as a substitute for England's 2-1 loss to Uruguay, coming on for current England World Cup 2022 squad member Jordan Henderson.
He would play 11 times for England from 2013 to 2014, scoring three goals.
Asmir Begovic
Here's one you may have forgot played for The Silkmen. Asmir Begovic has been on the books of a Premier League team since 2005. But before making his top flight debut in the 2008-09 season, the Bosnian actually went on loan to Macclesfield Town in late 2006.
The goalie made his debut in a closely fought draw with Stockport County as a surprise 80th minute substitute when Johnny Brain was injured.
He'd make four appearances in blue and white, when a knee injury cut his time at the Moss Rose short.
He made 171 appearances for Portsmouth and Stoke City, and while both of those teams were relegated, Begovic remained in the Premier League.
He did have to settle for being a reserve keeper for Chelsea, but in return he won the Premier League. Asmir Begovic is also the only former Macclesfield player to have won the Azerbaijan Premier League - an honour he secured after Chelsea - there's one for your next pub quiz.
Another who played in the 2014 World Cup, Begovic has been capped 63 times by his country and retired for them in 2020.
At club level, he is still playing in the Premier League as a back-up keeper for Everton.
In his three World Cup matches, he played the entirety of all matches.
Sadly, his country could not get out of the group as Bosnia and Herzegovina bowed out at the first hurdle in their World Cup debut.
Bosnia and Herzegovina lost 2-1, with Begovic conceding an own goal and a shot from Lionel Messi. He would concede once as his country then lost to Nigeria, before inspiring his team to a 3-1 victory over Iran in their final game.
His country have not qualified for a World Cup since.
Watch Asmir in action in 2014 in the video at the top of this article.
Efe Sodje
Centre-back Efe Sodje began his career with Stevenage. However, when they narrowly missed out on promotion to the Football League with Stevenage, he decided to join the side that did get promoted to the Third Division which was (you guessed it) Macclesfield Town.
From 1997 to 1999, the central defender made 83 appearances for our town's former football club. He scored six times, including a goal on his debut. He left for Luton in 1999, but would return to our county with Crewe Alexandra in the year 2000.
The Greenwich-born player was called up by the country of his parents, shortly after joining The Railwaymen.
Efe Sodje would make the Nigeria squad in the first Asian World Cup in 2002.
His appearances in the Japan-South Korea hosted World Cup would have been extra exciting for Macclesfield fans as Nigeria were drawn in a group with England.
Sodje played 73 minutes in their opening match, but he was played in right-back instead of his preferred central defence role. Nigeria lost to Argentina 1-0.
While he didn't play the next match against Sweden, he did start against an English side containing David Beckham, Cheshire-born Michael Owen and Rio Ferdinand.
Sodje played a part in keeping a clean sheet for the Nigerians against the Three Lions, as the match finished in a 0-0 draw.
Nigeria finished bottom of the group with one point, whereas England qualified for the knockout stage.
The Londoner would go on to earn 12 caps and score once. His last cap came two years after his only World Cup.
While his headgear was green for the Super Eagles, he would sport a red bandana when playing for Crewe and a blue or teal one for Macclesfield.
Coming full circle, he would end his career with Macclesfield Town from 2013 to 2015. He was 43 when he left Macclesfield for the last time in December 2015.
The defender's second spell would see him play six times, and also serve as an Assistant Manager to the legend that is John Askey as the club finished 11th, 15th and then 6th in the Conference National.
The Nigerian international would go to prison in 2017 for fraud, but he has since been released.
Paul Ince
The oldest person on the list, but also the most fleeting, as a player at least.
Paul Ince, now 55, ended his playing days as a player-manager for Macclesfield Town. Incey made just one appearance in January 2007. T
The Londoner couldn't focus on picking himself much though, as he had a relegation battle to fight.
Just securing survival for The Silkmen on the last day of the season, and later leaving to manage MK Dons.
As a player, the midfielder made 53 caps for England and played for four clubs in the Premier League. Making a handful of appearances for West Ham United in the First Division in the late 1980s, Ince played in the first Premier League season for Manchester United in 1992-93.
Like Begovic, Ince is a Premier League winner, having bagged two Premier League winner's medals before his time in Macclesfield.
And like Begovic, he played but did not win a World Cup winner's medal.
At the age of 30, he was six years into his England career when he called up to the squad for the 1998 World Cup in France.
The Ilford-born midfielder would start in central midfield for the 2-0 win over Tunisia, playing 32 minutes in the 2-1 loss to Romania, and 83 minutes in the 2-0 victory over Colombia.
Unfortunately, he had a rather cursed performance in the Round of 16 game against Argentina, being booked after ten minutes and missing in the penalty shoot out which England would eventually lose.
He was capped internationally 53 times from 1992 to 2000, scoring once. The former Silkmen would make 306 Premier League appearances, before dropping down to League Two with Macclesfield Town as player-manager. Ince is now a football pundit and manager at Reading, with the Berkshire club currently residing in 12th place. .
And that is it! Did we miss any? Enjoy the big England match tonight!
On a final note, it should be mentioned that a Macclesfield manager (but not a player) has also been included in a World Cup squad. Tim Flowers never played a minute but was a part of the 1998 World Cup Squad for England, 22 years before he would become the last-ever manager for Macclesfield Town FC.
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