Long whistle after 116 caps

Paris: French captain Marcel Desailly confirmed his retirement from international football Sunday.

The 35-year-old World Cup and Euro 2000 winner made his 116th and last appearance for France in the 2-2 draw with Croatia in the first round of Euro 2004.

The Ghana-born central defender — a Champions League winner with Marseille and AC Milan — was a shadow of the player who had been a tower of strength in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winning sides and was responsible for the second Croat goal and almost cost his team the match in the final minute of the clash — but for Ivica Mornar blasting over the bar from three metres out.

“I am putting an end to my international career with immediate effect,” he told French television station TF1.

Of his performance in Portugal Desailly, whose imposing frame earned him the nickname The Rock, reflected: “Yes, I’m less effective now but I compensate for that by my experience.”

He succeeded Didier Deschamps as France captain after the World Cup and bows out with at least one international honour as skipper — last year’s Confederations Cup.

Behind him in the list of most capped players come the retired Deschamps and Lilian Thuram on 103, with Bixente Lizarazu on 97 with the retired Laurent Blanc.

Next comes Zinedine Zidane, who took over the captain’s role in Portugal, with 93.

“The time has come when I must stop,” he said. “I’m not playing as well as I did because I can’t run up and down the pitch as much as I used to.”