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Caps: 13 (of 17)
Goals: 1
Marc Bircham became a full international by accident. Having broke into the Millwall first team, the combative midfielder decided to hawk his services to the Welsh Under-21 side on the grounds that his grandfather was born in Wales. However, on the eve of his first call-up Bircham discovered that his relative was actually born in Canada, some 6,000 miles away. And before he could say "Thank you, kindly", he was whisked off overseas to play for a country he knew little about, let alone visited.
Bircham started his career with a bang - scoring on his debut against Northern Ireland - but then found himself on the receiving end of a couple death threats before a World Cup qualifying game against Guatemala. An enraged Guatemalan football fan had got it into his head that the Millwall player was using the system to get himself a Canadian passport and, more importantly, posed a real threat to Guatemala's chances of qualification.
He quickly became a fixture in the Canadian side - playing ten internationals in 1999 alone - but although his all-round game was benefiting from playing against the likes of Brazil the long trips abroad were beginning to have an impact on his Lions' career and he lost his place to David Livermore and struggled to hold down a first-team place thereafter.
To his credit, Bircham recognised this and retired somewhat prematurely from International football. However, as far as the management was concerned, he was considered surplus to requirements and released at the end of his contract in 2002. He joined the club he supported as a boy - Queens' Park Rangers - and in 2003 decided that he had retired far too early and returned to the Canadian side. He's still waiting for that second goal though…