Former Republic of Ireland international Simon Cox has called time on his career at the age of 34.
The Reading-born striker, who qualified for Ireland through an Irish grandmother, played a total of 30 times for the boys in green and netted on four occasions.
While playing at West Brom in his first season in the Premier League, Cox heard wind that Giovanni Trapattoni was interested in calling him up.
"The press secretary at West Brom came up to me and said, 'The Ireland 32-man provisional squad has been announced and you're in it," he told JuddyTalks.
"And I was like, 'Oh, okay'. I'd booked my holidays to Marbella, I'd already booked them. I was ready to head off. We had one or two more games left for the season."
Cox explained how West Brom had given players the go-ahead to leave after the last game was over, as they were already safe for another season in the Premier League.
Nonetheless, he was happy to be called up by Trapattoni and felt an air of confidence after having a good run towards the end of the season.
His final few games included a sensational strike from outside the box against Tottenham to earn The Baggies a point away from home.
"I honestly thought I was going just as somebody to have a look," Cox said. "Observe and train, but not be a part of the games or anything like that."
"Then it obviously gets taken down by 32 to 23 and you're in that as well, and then you end up having to cancel your holidays because now you're going away!"
Trapp's Right Hand Man
Cox was drafted in to play for the Republic of Ireland in the 2011 Nations Cup. Fixtures against Northern Ireland and Scotland were on the cards.
While he still was in disbelief at being selected, his hopes of playing weren't high for the two games. Trapattoni had other ideas.
"Trapattoni said, 'You're playing, the first one, Northern Ireland.' And I said, 'Northern Ireland vs the Republic of Ireland?!"
📅 #OnThisDay in 2012
Simon Cox of Republic of Ireland in action against Darijo Srna of Croatia in the UEFA EURO2012 Group C match at the Municipal Stadium in Poznan.
🔗 https://t.co/Z495XOWCul pic.twitter.com/HFkIOJiJOj— sportsfile (@sportsfile) June 10, 2020
"Anyone who knows that's the biggest, probably apart from Ireland vs England, it's probably the biggest rivalry in the country's histories."
"I was like, jeesh, uh, unbelievable. Absolutely, I'm all for that." Cox ended up scoring in his international debut, a 5-0 win over Northern Ireland.
He went on to feature in the Scotland game too, another win, with the Republic of Ireland eventually winning out the Nations Cup.
"All of a sudden now you're an international, you've played two games, you've won a cup. It can't get any better!" Cox said.
Thinking he was probably going back to Marbella after the two-game stint, Cox was surprised to hear Trapattoni wanted him for their next set of games.
He ended up playing a vital role in Ireland's qualification for the Euros in 2012, winning man of the match against Armenia to help them into the playoffs.
He also played and scored in a friendly against Italy in Belgium, which was a surreal moment for him just weeks after making his debut.
"These are the sort of things that happen so fast," Cox said. "You don't have enough time to think about them or worry about what's going on."
"I've gone from nobody, to the Premier League, to starting my first International game, scoring my first international goal and starting my first European qualifier."
Learning From Robbie Keane
While playing for the Republic of Ireland, Cox partnered record goalscorer Robbie Keane on multiple occasions. Cox had plenty of admiration for him.
"Robbie Keane was incredible. Probably the best player I've played with, because he was so far ahead of everyone else that I've played with or alongside," he told the United Mates podcast.
"He would be able to set things up, he would be able to move you into position to create an opportunity, he would see that two or three passes ahead of the ball even coming to you."
Now that it's all said and done, Cox wishes he had more time to learn under Keane's tutelage and adopt some of his game.
"I would have loved an extra one or two more seasons with him, to be able to learn a little bit more," Cox said.
Cox, 34, just finished up a stint playing in Australia with the Western Sydney Warriors. He had spells at Reading, Swindon Town, West Brom, Nottingham Forest and Southend United.
Today is the day that every footballer knows will come but never looks forward to. After speaking with my family today I announce my retirement from playing the sport I love. I’ve been fortunate to have lived through a dream and which I’ve been able to share
— Simon Cox (@SCoxy31Real) October 15, 2021
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