Skip to main content

Schweinsteiger retires from international football

Bastian Schweinsteiger

Bastian Schweinsteiger

Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has announced his retirement from international football after making 120 appearances for Germany.

The 31-year-old is one of his country’s most capped players and featured in five games for Die Mannschaft at Euro 2016 as they reached the semi-finals before losing out to hosts France.

Schweinsteiger, who made his debut for the national team in 2004, won one World Cup title as Joachim Low’s men beat Argentina in the final in 2014, after finishing third in 2006 and 2010. He also picked up a silver medal from Euro 2008.

The Manchester United midfielder has published a statement declaring that his time with the German national team has come to an end.

“I have recently asked the coach to not nominate me for the national team anymore because I would like to retire,” he wrote.

“I was allowed to collect 120 caps for my country and I lived some moments which have been indescribably beautiful and successful.

“Jogi Low knew how much Euro 2016 in France meant to me because I really wanted to win that title we have not been able to win since 1996.

“It was not meant to be, I have to accept that.

“By winning the World Cup in 2014 we achieved something on a historic and emotional level that I cannot reproduce in my career.

“That’s why it is right and reasonable to finish it and to wish the team all the best for the qualification for the 2018 World Cup.

“With this decision I leave the national team that has always been a precious family for me. I hope that the connection will still remain strong in one way or the other.

“I would like to say to our fans: ‘It was an honour to play for you guys. Many thanks for everything that we have gone through together’.”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Court grants Fani-Kayode N50m bail

Fani-kayode sandwiched by EFCC officials Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court Abuja on Thursday granted a N50m bail to former spokesman of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. Fani-Kayode was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a five-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N26m. Fani-Kayode is the sole defendant in the fresh charges numbered, FHC/ABJ/CR/140/2016. The EFCC accused the defendant of diverting 26 million Naira allegedly received from the ONSA while Sambo Dasuki was in office. The anti-graft agency also accused him of handling the said N26 million without going through financial institution as required under the Money Laundering Act. The embattled former minister is already facing 17-count charge of money laundering before the Lagos Division of the court, along with a former Finance Minister; Nenadi Usman, Danjuma Yusuf and a firm; Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited. They were charg...

Pope not involved in Colombian peace deal- Vatican

Pope Francis Pope Francis has turned down a request to play a role in the peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group. The Vatican in a statement issued on Wednesday in in Vatican City said that an invitation was sent to his Holiness in early August to appoint a representative to participate in the committee that selected the judges for the talks. The statement said that though Pope Francis supported the peace process, he, however, reiterated that he would not get involved in Colombian peace deal. It said that Pope was praying for the enlightenment of the hearts and minds of those who were called to promote the common good of the Colombian nation. A deal was announced last week, putting an end to five decades of internal conflict between government forces and the FARC rebels. The agreement, which needed to be ratified through a referendum in Oct. 2, would entail setting up a special court to grant amnesties or pu...

Man docked for defiling 9-year-old girl

magistrate-court A 33-year-old man, Godwin Otobo, was on Monday docked at a Surulere Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.For allegedly defiling a nine-year-old girl, ‎Otobo, who lives at No. 10, Borrow Pit St., Sangotedo-Ajah area of Lagos, was said to have defiled the underage girl whose parents also reside in the same compound. The Prosecutor, Sgt. Anthonia Osayande, told the court that the accused committed the offence at about 9.00 p.m. sometimes in September. “The accused defiled the girl in the night when she was fetching water.‎ “The offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011,’’ Osayande told the court. The accused pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge of defilement. Ruling on a bail application filed by the accused, Chief Magistrate Ipaye Nwachukwu, granted him bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum. She said one of the sureties must be a property owner in Lagos State, while the other must be a civil servant on grade...