French winger Franck Ribery has announced his retirement from international football, he said in an interview with the German magazine Kicker.
Bayern Munich’s Ribery, 31, the winner of the 2013 UEFA European Player of the Year award, has won 80 caps for France since his international debut in 2006.
“I am retiring. I realised the time had come,” he said, adding that he had taken the decision “for personal reasons”.
“I want to spend more time with my family, to concentrate on playing for Bayern Munich and also to open the way for the many other young talented players in the national side.
“You have to know when to stop and the time has come to call it a day.
“And we saw during the World Cup that France have nothing to worry about as far as the future is concerned.”
Ribery was forced to sit out Wednesday’s German Supercup match with Borussia Dortmund with a knee injury but hopes to be fit for the first match of the Bundesliga season against Wolfsburg on August 22.
He joined Bayern from Marseille in 2007 for a then club record fee of EUR25 million ($33 million), and has won four Bundesliga titles and one Champions League crown with the Bavarian club.
Ribery has also adopted the name Bilal Yusuf Mohammed since his conversion to Islam in 2006.
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