International Career
Beattie earned his first senior England cap in a friendly against Australia, on 12 February 2003, during his most successful season with Southampton. It was just 15 days before his 25th birthday. Australia won the game 3–1, and the result was described (by the Australian media) as "one of the biggest upsets in soccer history". Beattie played the whole of the first half of the game, and was replaced at half-time by Francis Jeffers, who scored England's consolation goal.
Beattie's brief international career seemed to have come to a close when he was not selected for Euro 2004, the England team coach Sven-Göran Eriksson preferring Emile Heskey as the "traditional" centre forward despite his having scored five fewer goals than Beattie in the previous season.
Read more about this topic: James Beattie (footballer)
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