Luis Suarez has announced he will retire from international football after Uruguay's World Cup qualifier versus Paraguay on Friday. (More Football News)
Suarez is Uruguay's all-time leading goalscorer, having netted 69 times in 142 appearances,🐭 with only Diego Godin (161) winning more caps for La Celeste.
The striker helped Uruguay reac🌜h the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup and win their 15th Copa America title in 2011, being named Player of the 🐭Tournament as he scored four goals including the opener in the final – a 3-0 victory over Paraguay.
Suarez will face the same opponents in his final international match on Saturday as Marcelo Bielsa's team look to build on a return of 13 points from their first six games in the CꦰONMEBOL Wor🍬ld Cup qualification process.
"I've been thinking 💞about this and analysing this. I believe this is the right time," a tearful Suarez told reporte𓃲rs on Monday.
"I want to be relaxed when I play my last game with the national team. I'll be just as excited to play as I was in 2007 when I played for my national team♕ for the first time.
"That 19-year old kid is now a veteran player, an older player, however you want to ca⭕ll it, with an incredible h🐻istory with the national team, that will give his life for the team."
Suarez was memorably sent off for a handball on the goal line to deny Ghana a winning goal as La Celeste won the teams' 2010 World Cup quarter-final on penalties, while he missed the 2015 Copa America after receiving a nine-match ban for biting Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World C🌜up.
"We did go through difficult moments. There were many," he added.&nbs♈p;"Personally, it was worse for me after m🍃y massive mistake in 2014.
"But there's nothing that I would reproach."
The 37-year-old played a limited role as Uruguay took the bronze medal at this year's Copa, making four substitute appearan🐟ces with Darwin Nunez predominantly leading the line.
Suarez did, however, net a stoppage-time equaliser to take the th♔ird-place play-off versus Canada to penalties, also converting from the spot as Urugu💙ay triumphed 4-3 in the subsequent shoot-out.
He has 16 goals in 20 MLS outings for Inter Mia𒀰mi this year, with only Christian Benteke and Cristian Arango (17 each) ahead of him in the Goldeꦓn Boot race.
