Desailly calls time
14 April 2012
Marcel Desailly has announced his retirement from international football after a record 116 appearances for France.
The Chelsea defender looked well below his best in Portugal, starting only one game as France crashed out of Euro 2004 at the quarter-final stage, and he has decided to call it a day at the age of 35.
"The moment when it is necessary-for me to stop has arrived," Desailly said.
"I am not as effective as I was. I can no longer do what I was able to do in the past."
Although he no longer appeared able to cope with the demands of international football at Euro 2004, Desailly was a mainstay of the France side which won the 1998 World Cup on home soil and Euro 2000.
