James Carragher spent half an hour in the company of Robert Lewandowski on Monday and a date with Virgil van Dijk is planned for the summer.
The son of the Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool defender, Jamie, became accustomed to rubbing shoulders with footballing royalty as he grew up, but the significance of finding himself in the presence of two modern greats should not be underestimated.
The international break brought high-profile debuts for a number of players, but away from the spotlight the Wigan Athletic defender was also taking the next step in his development. It came for Malta in the Ta’ Qali National Stadium in a World Cup qualifier against Finland. That the 22-year-old is eligible to play for the Mediterranean island is by virtue of his great-grandfather, Paul Vassallo, who was born there before moving to Liverpool.
The Maltese Football Association contacted the Carragher family several months ago to make their pitch, which was quickly deemed a “no-brainer”, and the culmination of those discussions was James starting against the Finns in a 1-0 loss before a 2-0 defeat in Poland 72 hours later during which Barcelona’s Lewandowski stepped off the substitutes’ bench.
Pitting himself against an elite goalscorer would have been enough in itself, yet he would take more away from the game. “I was quite disappointed that he wasn’t starting,” Carragher Jr said. “But when I knew that he was coming on, at least I could say that I played against him.
“Even if he got past me or got the better of me, I just wanted to test myself against him. He kept coming short for it, so his touch was still there, and then he was always in the box trying to score. He didn’t cause me a problem that much in behind, but he’s been one of the best strikers in the last ten to 15 years.
“And I got a shirt after the game, so that was a good thing as well. We went down to ten men, we had about two minutes to go, and I’ve seen him walking towards me and I just looked at him and said, ‘Can I get your shirt?’
Carragher battles with Lewandowski during Malta’s 2-0 loss to Poland on Monday
FOTO OLIMPIK/NURPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES
“He said, ‘We’ll do it inside,’ so I waited inside. There were seven or eight players waiting and I got in front of them all. A few lads were not happy! It’s something I can look back on in years to come. I’ve got my own from the first game and then his one from the second game. I’ll frame it.”
The losses aside, Carragher, as quick-witted as his dad and just as obsessed with football, felt comfortable on a stage that provided a very different test from the one that awaits when his focus shifts back to League One and Wigan’s home game against Barnsley.
“I think it suits my game in the sense that one of my big attributes is reading the game,” he said. “In both games I think I only had to go for one header, which is mad for a centre back. On Saturday, I’d probably go for six in the first half.
“So it’s a completely different game, but I’m quite good at knowing when to step in, drop off or move across. Obviously, at those levels if you make one mistake it’s a goal, so you’ve always got to be on the ball and concentrated. It’s a weird game sometimes, too, it can be slow and then out of nowhere it just breaks in.”
Jamie Carragher was in the stands for his son’s debut
DOMENIC AQUILINA/NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
Carragher was supported by family members at both games and now a trip to the Netherlands on June 10 has been planned when the World Cup qualifying campaign continues against Van Dijk and co. It is an assignment that will hold special sway for the centre back.
“Oh yeah, the family are all booked on that,” he said with a smile. “There’ll be a good crowd from Liverpool going over there as well, so I’m looking forward to that. It is not just Van Dijk but, being a big Liverpool fan myself, there’s [Ryan] Gravenberch, [Cody] Gakpo and a few other lads.
“That’s a big reason why I am playing for Malta, just testing myself against some of the best players in the world. Van Dijk’s probably one of the best centre backs ever, so to say I’ve played against them is a massive achievement.”
More so given it was as recently as the summer of 2023 that Carragher and his father spoke about the possibility of having to embark on a different career given injury issues. It later transpired he had been playing with a fracture in his knee.
A loan spell at Inverness Caledonian Thistle under Duncan Ferguson last season gave him some game time, and so far this term he has made 30 appearances for Wigan in a variety of defensive roles. It has been a break-out campaign which will continue under the new head coach, Ryan Lowe, after the dismissal of Shaun Maloney at the start of the month, but Carragher’s grounded nature means he is always striving for more.
“It’s crazy, football,” he said. “A couple of years ago I was nearly stopping playing and that almost gave me the thought of, ‘Just do it, you never know what might happen,’ when Malta got in touch. Now I’m playing against Lewandowski.”
Barnsley’s strikeforce will provide a different test, but one he will treat exactly the same.