Uruguay striker Luis Suarez has announced his retirement from international football.
The 37-year-old fought back tears as he confirmed Uruguay’s World Cup qualifier against Paraguay on Saturday (00:30 BST) will be his last appearance for his country.
The former Liverpool and Barcelona forward is Uruguay’s all-time leading scorer with 69 goals in 142 appearances, having made his debut for Uruguay against Colombia in February 2007.
“I’ve been thinking about this and analysing this. I believe this is the right time,” said Suarez.
“I want to be relaxed when I play my last game with the national team. I’ll be just as excited to play as I was in 2007 when I played for my national team for the first time.
“That 19-year old kid is now a veteran player, an older player – however you want to call it – with an incredible history with the national team, that will give his life for the team.”
Suarez played in nine major international tournaments for Uruguay.
He was sent off in the 2010 World Cup quarter-final when he handled on the line during the final minute of extra time to prevent Ghana from progressing to the semi-finals.
Ex-Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan missed the subsequent spot-kick and Uruguay won the resulting penalty shootout to reach the World Cup semi-finals for the first time in 40 years.
In 2011, Suarez led Uruguay to victory in the Copa America in Argentina, finishing as the tournament’s second top scorer with four goals.
At the 2014 World Cup, he scored twice to help Uruguay beat England in the group stages but missed the knockout stages after receiving a fourth-month ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in his side’s final group game.
Suarez was also handed a nine-game international ban and missed the 2015 Copa America.
“We did go through difficult moments. There were many,” Suarez said during his retirement press conference. “Personally, it was worse for me after my massive mistake in 2014. But there’s nothing that I would reproach.”
Suarez would go on to play at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, while he appeared in five editions of the Copa America.
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