Croatian defender Diana Lovren, who plays for France’s Lyon, has announced her retirement from international football after playing 78 international matches for her country and contributing to her World Cup successes in Russia and Qatar.
Lovren, 33, wrote in a message broadcast by the Croatian Football Association: “The day has come when I have to say goodbye to the Croatian national team,” stressing that he made this decision “after much deliberation.”
“As a child, I dreamed that I would play in big tournaments in the most beautiful plaid shirt. I first wore it at the age of nine in a white and red saber and I will never forget this extraordinary feeling, like if I put on a Superman suit, ”said Lovren, who scored five goals for the national team in 78 matches (Superman).”
For his part, the Croatian coach Zlatko Dalic praised “one of the leaders of the dressing room”, able to “motivate the whole team”, “a real fighter”, “a player who wants to be seen in his ranks in every fight.” “
“He has faced a lot of criticism and mistrust in his career, but he has always been a formidable fighter who, at the end of his history with the national team, can be very proud of what he has achieved,” Dalic wrote in an interview. statement.
Lovren’s international career spanned 14 years, and he helped Croatia finish second at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and then, four years later, third at the World Cup in Qatar.
Last January, Lovren left Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg, where he wore the captain’s armband, to sign a two-and-a-half-year contract with Lyon, where he previously played in the first spell from 2010 to 2013.
Source: AFP.
