following the departure of england coach sven-goran eriksson in 2006, there was speculation regarding scholes making himself available for international duty again under new boss steve mcclaren. in october 2006, mcclaren said that he had personally asked scholes twice to rejoin england, but scholes declined. in may 2010, mcclaren's successor fabio capello approached scholes about a return to international football in the run-up to the 2010 world cup, but scholes again rejected the offer, saying he would prefer to spend time with his family. on 7 june 2010, scholes stated that if capello had given him more time and asked earlier, he would have probably taken the opportunity. on 27 july 2010, scholes expressed his disappointment in not taking the opportunity to play at another world cup, saying he may have made a mistake.