England takes second place for Ferdinand

If one good thing has come out of the rather tiresome Rio Ferdinand story this week, it’s that he and England manager Roy Hodgson have finally had a chat.

Rio’s put down his mobile Twitter app for two seconds and Roy has stopped talking about why he wasn’t picking the defender to random people on the London tube — as he did before the World Cup.

Now, like civilized grown men, they’ve met up, shot the breeze over a cup of tea and found out where each other stand.

The Premier League takes a breather this weekend but Ferdinand has a detailed training programme in place in order to extend his playing career for Manchester United.

Hodgson, naturally, is more concerned with the more immediate task of beating San Marino and Montenegro in the World Cup qualifiers (tonight at 5pm Bermuda time and Tuesday same time respectively).

Of course, we could have told them all that before it came to a head this week.

Ferdinand – or is that his manager Sir Alex Ferguson – has decided the two are incompatible this time around despite an England recall. But rather than any sinister fallout, the episode simply highlights two things we knew already: that the pressure of top-level football spawns self interest, and that the Premier League is regarded by most players (certainly most managers) now as more important than playing for your country.

It’s easy to understand why — money, profile —  but that doesn’t make it any less sad.

Personally, the joy I’d get from seeing my country win – or even get close to winning – the World Cup would far exceed that of seeing my team lift the EPL trophy.

Ferdinand, 34, has 81 caps, which is a fine achievement but he won’t be remembered for a stellar England career.

He’ll be remembered as part of the maligned “golden generation” that were perennial disappointments.

But at United, he will likely be held up as a legend for all the trophies he won.

Now that’s great if you’re a United fan, or Ferdinand’s bank manager, but the rest of the country won’t really care.

Michael Owen, who has just announced his retirement at the end of the season, is a player who provokes lukewarm feelings from fans of all the clubs he played for.

But those same fans will never forget his wonder goal against Argentina or his hat-trick against Germany. Trust me.

Bobby Moore, a player Ferdinand has been compared to all his career, never won the league but the man who passed away just over 20 years ago, is a national treasure for winning the World Cup in 1966, and whose stature grows every passing year for the way he represented a nation.

It was a different era, of course, and you can’t blame Ferdinand for putting career longevity ahead of England duty.

But if I could come back again as an imposing, sublime, ball-winning centre-half, I’d be Bobby over Rio any day.