Aston Villa and Republic of Ireland goalkeeper http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Shay-Given-c33284 has called time on his international career, after making a record number of 125 appearances for the country.
The veteran goalkeeper caught http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Giovanni-c14985 Trapattoni completely off guard when he announced his intention of retiring from international football after 16 years, two major championships and 125 appearances for his country.
The Irish national team is currently preparing for its World Cup qualification campaign, and Trapattoni seemed confident on Sunday when he said that all his senior players would be available for selection. The qualifiers kick off next month in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Kazakhstan-c2931
and the Italian manager has now been completely caught by surprise by Given’s desire to retire from international football.
Trapattoni’s assistant coach Marco Tardelli had also been confident that Given, along with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robbie-Keane-c31215 and Damien Duff, would be present for selection.
Given had been talking about the prospect of retirement following the national side’s disappointing Euro 2012 campaign back in June, which ended without a single victory and consisted of an embarrassing defeat to European champions http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011.
The player had broken the news about his retirement on his official Twitter account. Given wrote:
“After a lot of thought and consideration, I have made the most difficult decision to retire from international football."
“It's been a great honour and privilege to play and on occasion captain the team. I shall remain a huge fan of the team as I have been all my life and I wish them every success for the future. I wish to thank all the players, managers, staff and most importantly
the most wonderful fans in the world.”
“Finally I would like to thank my wife Jane, my two amazing kids and my entire family for their unwavering support over the 16 years and 125 caps.”
The 36-year old made his debut for Ireland against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Japan-c2928 and the European Championship
in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Portugal-c2984 back in June.
Tags: