Uruguay striker Luis Suárez has announced his retirement from international football.
The 37-year-old became emotional as he confirmed that the World Cup qualifier against Paraguay on Saturday (00:30 BST) will be his final appearance for his country.
Suárez, who has played for Liverpool and Barcelona, is Uruguay’s all-time leading scorer with 69 goals in 142 appearances, having made his debut 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.”
Suárez participated in nine major international tournaments for Uruguay.
He was famously sent off in the 2010 World Cup quarter-final for handling the ball on the line during the final minute of extra time, preventing Ghana from advancing to the semi-finals. Asamoah Gyan’s missed penalty allowed Uruguay to win the shootout and reach the World Cup semi-finals for the first time in 40 years.
In 2011, Suárez led Uruguay to victory in the Copa América in Argentina, finishing as the tournament’s second top scorer with four goals.
At the 2014 World Cup, he scored twice to help Uruguay defeat England in the group stages. However, he missed the knockout rounds after receiving a four-month ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini during the final group match.
Suárez also received a nine-game international ban, which caused him to miss the 2015 Copa América.
“We did go through difficult moments. There were many,” Suarez said during his retirement news 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.