PAUL Scholes' decision to retire from international football might have come out of the blue, but it underlines how little the England shirt means to a group of highly-paid professionals who are more concerned with their pay packet than representing their country.

A generation ago, playing for England was the highest accolade any domestic footballer could receive.

An international call-up was the ultimate honour in the game, a chance to play on the biggest stage against the world's best.

But rampant commercialism and the feverish advancement of the club game has reduced international football to little more than an irritating sideshow.

Players like Scholes are now more interested in helping Manchester United win the Champions League than guiding England to glory in the World Cup.

Managers like Sir Alex Ferguson are able to ride roughshod over the international game, pulling their players out of any fixture that does not dovetail with their own plans.

And the footballing authorities are unwilling to fight back in the face of incessant pressure from global companies who have made multi-million pound investments into the leading clubs.

Things were bad enough when England's players displayed a total lack of respect for their position by threatening to strike in the light of Rio Ferdinand's missed drugs test, but the status of the national side has reached a new nadir with Scholes' antics.

Here is a 29-year-old, supposedly at the peak of his powers, tearing the England shirt off his own back.

Claiming he is tired of making sacrifices for the national cause simply doesn't wash - try telling that to the thousands of fans who spent a fortune following England's ill-fated Euro 2004 campaign in Portugal this summer.

If Scholes does not want to play for England then they are better off without him.

His unwillingness to make himself available for selection again is an act of selfishness that further undermines the image of the England team.

Millions of youngsters grow up idolising the likes of Scholes, but they will no longer dream of scoring the winning goal for England in the World Cup final. Instead, they will dream of grabbing the winner for Manchester United in the World Club Challenge, and that is a crying shame.