Emotional Suarez announces Uruguay retirement
Uruguay striker, Luis Suarez, has announced his retirement from international football.
The 37-year-old fought back tears as he confirmed that the 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 against Colombia in February 2007.
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 four-month ban for biting Italian 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.
Suarez would go on to play at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, while he appeared in five editions of the Copa America.
—BBC
