Jamie Carragher was supposed to be taking his wife and children to Disneyland on Monday.

Instead, the Liverpool defender will be at Wembley hoping to consolidate his position in Fabio Capello's plans for the World Cup in England's penultimate warm-up match, against Mexico.

Given that Carragher walked away from the national squad in 2007, it is not a situation that many outside of Capello's inner circle would have predicted even a month ago.

Carragher himself admits the recall request came totally out of the blue.

"I have been playing football since I was five years of age and in another five years I probably won't kick a ball for the rest of my life," he said from England's pre-World Cup base in the Austrian Alps.

"So the chance to play at the highest level again, it was too good to turn down."

The flattering attention from a manager Carragher has long admired was a significant factor in the holiday plans being put on hold.

"I am a big follower of football and for the last 10-15 years he is probably the standout manager in world football, so the chance to work with him was also one of the main reasons," Carragher said.

"Especially for a defender. The two best defenders for me - probably of all time - are (Franco) Baresi and (Paolo) Maldini and he coached them both. It is going to be a great education for me over next two weeks and hopefully for a month after that."

When Carragher quit the international scene it was clear that he felt his outstanding form for a Liverpool side that reached consecutive Champions League finals in 2005 and 2006 had not been fully recognised by either Sven Goran Eriksson or by his successor Steve McClaren.

There was controversy too when he subsequently admitted, in an autobiography much-admired for its frankness, that losing matches for Liverpool hurt him more than defeats in an England shirt.

Looking back, he feels his comments were taken out of context.

"The stuff I mention in my book was not so much about England, it was more that Liverpool just means so much to me," he explained.

"I've been there since I was nine years old, all my trophies and great nights in football I have done with Liverpool."

Thrilled as he was by the opportunity to work with Capello, Carragher initially hesitated to consent to his request to help plug the gaps in the squad created by the injury problems which prevented Wes Brown and Joleon Lescott from playing regularly for their clubs in the latter part of the season.

"The first call went through my agent," he recalled. "He said `you'll never guess who I've had a call off' and I went through about ten names. I didn't have a clue, so it was a big shock."

A few weeks later, Carragher was asked directly if he would be in Capello's 30-man provisional squad.

Both player and manager insist Carragher still has to earn his place in the final 23 but, barring injury, it seems inconceivable that he will miss out.

Capello has no other cover for his first-choice right-back Glen Johnson and is also mulling the possibility of playing with a three-man central defence in a formation Carragher is comfortable with.

Whatever happens in South Africa however, Carragher plans to depart the international stage once more after the tournament.

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