England's famous 'Golden Generation' will always be remembered as a group of serial underachievers.
The star men shone for their clubs, but things just never quite clicked on the international stage, Portugal eliminating the Three Lions from the quarter-finals of both Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup.
Things turned sour after the conclusion of the latter tournament, with England failing to qualify for Euro 2008 and thus signalling the end of the 'Golden Generation'.
So with international football the hot topic right now, we've decided to revisit that collection of players and rank them based on their overall performances for the Three Lions.
We'll apologise in advance for some of the controversial calls made...
*Owen Hargreaves & Paul Robinson were unavailable on Tiermaker. Both fall into the 'underrated' category*
Legend
Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole & Michael Owen
Rooney (all time leading scorer) and Owen (5th highest scorer) notched goals for fun in an England shirt, while Cole is undoubtedly the greatest left-back to ever play for the Three Lions.
Gerrard just about makes it into the top tier, the 114-cap midfielder turning in some wonderful displays on the international stage throughout the course of his career.
Very good
Frank Lampard, David Beckham, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand & Gary Neville
Gerrard just scraped into the top tier, while Lampard just misses out - small margins indeed. The Chelsea legend scored 30 goals in an England jersey, but he never looked as comfortable in England's setup as he did with his club.
Terry and Ferdinand were a pretty formidable centre-back partnership for a time, while Neville was a dependable presence out on the right-hand side of the defence.
Beckham was a brilliant servant to England, however, the former captain was rarely one of the standout players on the pitch for the Three Lions.
Underrated
Joe Cole, Peter Crouch, Emile Heskey, Owen Hargreaves, Paul Robinson & Sol Campbell
Cole was the most skilful England player of the 'Golden Generation' and THAT volley against Sweden is a goal that will be remembered for decades to come.
Hargreaves rarely had a bad game on international duty and the same can be said about Campbell - the Arsenal legend was just unlucky to play in the same era as Terry and Ferdinand.
Both Crouch and Heskey were never the most aesthetically-pleasing players, but they were mighty useful for England and aside from a few blunders, Robinson was a pretty astute 'keeper in his pomp.
Not used properly
Paul Scholes & Michael Carrick
Why did England play Scholes - one of the best central midfielders in Premier League history - out on the left?! It's a decision that is still baffling to this very day and as a result, we never saw the best of the Manchester United legend on the international stage.
As for Carrick, it's a mystery as to why the former Tottenham man was never played more often, because his skillset would have helped balance England's attack-minded midfield.
Making up the numbers
Jamie Carragher, Wayne Bridge & Phil Neville
Carragher didn't stand much of a chance on England duty with Terry, Ferdinand and Campbell ahead of him in the pecking order.
Phil rarely started over his brother Gary at right-back and due to the brilliance of Cole on the opposing flank, Bridge was used sparingly too.
Should have been dropped
David James & Kieron Dyer
James was simply never good enough to play for England and he was rightfully ousted from the team by Robinson for the 2006 World Cup.
Dyer had all the potential in the world, but his lack of application should have rendered him a no-go for the selectors. In 33 international games, the midfielder failed to score a single goal.
