10 Real Madrid Players Who Failed to Shine for Their Country

Only the best will do at Real Madrid, so naturally, the majority of the players in their squad are the very best their respective countries have to offer.

For example, at the moment, they boast Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, Croatia's Luka Modric and France's Karim Benzema.

All three, as well as many other players at Carlo Ancelotti's disposal, have key roles for their nations.

And while this is completely in keeping with the norm at the European champions, there have been several anomalies down the years.

The following slides look at 10 players who excelled for Madrid but not for their international sides.

Steve McManaman

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In 37 England caps, Steve McManaman scored just three goals and failed to impress as he had done for his clubs Liverpool and Real Madrid.

During his time in Spain, he scored in the Champions League final for Los Blancos as they won their eighth European Cup. He also scored in the semi-final against Barcelona en route to their ninth.

It was a different story for his country.

He was good in England at Euro 96 under Terry Venables but rarely featured under Glenn Hoddle and got injured in the first game of Euro 2000 when Kevin Keegan was in charge.

A frustrating international career ended in 2001.

Alfredo Di Stefano

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It's often suggested that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo need to win a World Cup to truly be considered among the all-time greats.

That is ridiculous. Alfredo Di Stefano never even played on the world's biggest stage.

Perhaps the best player to ever play for Real Madrid, Di Stefano, in an international career that saw him represent three countries, only won 39 caps, two of which were for Colombia in friendly matches not recognised by FIFA.

He scored six in six for Argentina, but La Albiceleste didn't feature in the 1950 or 1954 World Cups for various reasons.

Another 23 goals would follow for Spain in 31 caps, but he still couldn't find his way to a World Cup.

La Roja failed to qualify in 1958, while a muscle injury kept him out of the 1962 World Cup after he had helped his adopted nation qualify.

Guti

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That a player can play over 500 times for Real Madrid and only pick up 13 caps for Spain is unthinkable.

However, that is the exact situation Guti found himself in.

Innately talented, he failed to translate that talent onto the international scene for his country.

The main reason for that, though, is because he was rarely seen dressed in Spanish red.

Of Guti’s handful of caps, none came in a major international tournament.

Jonathan Woodgate

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In all honesty, Jonathan Woodgate's Real Madrid career was as disrupted by injury as his international career was for England.

An own goal and a red card on his Los Blancos debut wasn't the best introduction, but he did eventually string a few decent performances together in Spain when fitness permitted him to do so.

Surprisingly (or not), he won just eight caps for England and never appeared in a World Cup or European Championship.

Injuries did hamper him, although he also faced competition for a starting spot from the likes of Rio Ferdinand, John Terry and Sol Campbell.

Miguel Pardeza

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Real Madrid's success in the 1980s was built around a homegrown spine, in particular five players known as ‘La Quinta del Buitre’ who had come through the club's academy.

Of those five players, it could be argued only Miguel Pardeza failed to achieve anything with Spain.

Emilio Butragueno, Manolo Sanchis, Martin Vazquez and Michel completed the quintet and had varying degrees of success with La Roja.

Pardeza, however, featured just five times for Spain—although never while he was a Los Blancos player—but did help Madrid win the league in 1987 before leaving for Real Zaragoza.

Laurie Cunningham

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Why Laurie Cunningham didn't represent England more is a tricky subject.

After shining for West Brom, he became the first British player to move to Real Madrid, where he scored twice on his debut and then helped the Spanish giants to a league and cup double.

Despite that success, though, he was ignored by Ron Greenwood when the England boss named his squad for the European Championship in 1980.

It is difficult to attain why, but it could be that foreign football wasn't monitored as closely during that era. It is also true that it was a difficult time for black players.

In spite of his immense talent, Cunningham appeared just six times for the Three Lions.

Vicente Del Bosque

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Vicente Del Bosque made over 300 appearances for Real Madrid and has since led them and Spain to success as a manager; however, he flattered to deceive as a Spanish international.

A key midfielder in the Madrid team for several years, he was never afforded the time to really shine in his national side.

He won just 18 caps for La Roja and was a member of the side that exited Euro 1980 at the group stage.

Del Bosque has made up for his lack of success as an international player through his work as a manager, winning both the World Cup and the European Championship.

Aitor Karanka

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Part of three Champions League-winning campaigns, Aitor Karanka was in and out of the side during his time at Real Madrid, but that is usually enough to secure a place in the Spain squad.

Raul Albiol, who played as a back-up to Sergio Ramos and Pepe, is an example of that.

However, the Middlesbrough manager, Jose Mourinho's former assistant at the Bernabeu, only appeared once for his country.

That one appearance came when he was an Athletic Club player before he signed in at the Bernabeu.

Fernando Redondo

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Fernando Redondo has a great relationship with European football and was highly thought of during the 1990s, but that wasn't mirrored in his relationship with Argentina.

He rejected a call-up ahead of the 1990 World Cup because he thought he was only needed to make up the numbers.

However, he did then feature in all of Argentina's matches at the 1994 World Cup before they were knocked out by Romania in the last 16.

After that, though, he refused more chances to represent his country due to new coach Daniel Passarella's strict rules on idle subjects such as hair length.

By the time his international career ended, Redondo has only appeared 29 times for La Albiceleste despite being one of Madrid's most influential players for several years.

Francisco Buyo

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Once again, as with Guti, the numbers don't seem to add up when it comes to Francisco Buyo.

The goalkeeper made more than 300 appearances in total for Real Madrid, but he somehow only won seven caps for Spain.

While Guti's case is more intriguing, Buyo's can be put down purely to the toughness of competition for the gloves.

He was regularly part of the squad, often as No. 2 keeper, but Buyo was kept out of the starting lineup by Real Sociedad's Luis Arconada at first and later by Andoni Zubizarreta.

Meanwhile, he was winning La Liga six times with Los Blancos, although he was admittedly third choice for his final triumph.