Dejan Lovren, the 33-year-old Croatia defender, has retired from international football.
The Lyon center-back announced on Thursday that he had played his final game for his country.
Lovren earned 78 caps, the last of which came in a 3-0 World Cup semi-final loss to an Argentina team that went on to win the tournament in Qatar last December.
The former Liverpool man, who made his Croatia debut in 2009, was an unused substitute for a victory over Morocco’s in the third-place play-off.
Lovren was a key figure in Croatia’s run to the World Cup final in 2018, where they were defeated by France.
He said in a lengthy open letter: “I want to tell every single young football player in the country that they must look at the Croatian national team as a completely other dimension of football – look at these players as your superheroes.
“The most beautiful chapters of my national team story were the ones that we wrote during the past five years. This is, if I’m being honest, still a complete dream to me.
Thank you @HNS_CFF for everything!
Forever in my heart. ❤️?? pic.twitter.com/GSebjeEKK8
— Dejan Lovren (@Dejan06Lovren) February 23, 2023
“So many emotions went through me, especially in 2018 and 2022, and I find it difficult to put these experiences into words.
“I lived my life in hope that I would get to experience moments like those and, when they did come, I lived them with immense pride. These memories will remain in my heart forever.”
