Former Liverpool and Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has announced his retirement from international football, Afrosport reports.
The Inter Miami forward on Monday, called time on his Uruguay career, which started with his debut against Colombia in February 2007.
Suarez, who has played in nine major international tournaments for Uruguay and is the South American nation’s all-time leading scorer with 69 goals in 142 appearances.
The prolific goal scorer told reporters in a press conference on Monday that he will play his last international game on Friday against Paraguay.
He said: “On Friday…it’s hard for me, it’s even hard for me to say it, it will be my last match with my country’s national team. But it’s something I’ve been thinking about, I’ve been analysing it. It’s the right time.”
“It’s the moment in which I can play my last game with the national team,” he added. “Calmly, I’m going to play it with the same enthusiasm that I played in my first game with the national team in 2007. With the same desire, with the same illusion that I had when I was 19 years old.”
Suarez, who represented La Celeste at four World Cups and five Copa America tournaments, winning the latter in 2011, also added that it was a very difficult decision to make and that retiring from the national team now gives him some “comfort”.
“I’m 37 years old, and I know that it’s very difficult to make it to the next World Cup,” he stated. “I want to retire by myself and not because of injuries, as has often been said, or because they stop calling me for some reason or another.
“This gives me a lot of comfort. It is very comforting for me to want to take that step aside and to feel ready. It’s hard for me, it’s difficult because it wasn’t an easy decision, but with the peace of mind that until the last game, I gave my all and I didn’t fade away, the flame didn’t go out little by little.”
