Gundogan of Germany has retired from the international game

The 33-year-old German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan announced on Monday that he had given up playing soccer for his country.

Gundogan, who made his debut for Germany in 2011 and has 19 goals in 82 appearances for the national team, joined Barcelona from Manchester City last year.

Gundogan wrote on social media, “After giving it some thought, I have decided it’s time to end my career with the national team.”

“I look back with great pride on 82 international matches for my home country -– a number I could never have dreamed of when I made my debut for the senior national team in 2011.”

Gundogan played in all five of Germany’s Euro 2024 matches; he last played for his country during their quarterfinal loss to eventual champions Spain.

“My highlight was definitely the huge honor of being able to lead the team as captain at our home European Championship this summer,” Gundogan stated.

However, I started to feel a little exhausted both mentally and physically before the competition, which made me stop and consider. Furthermore, there is no decrease in the quality of club and national level games.”