Thuram is proud to have played so long for France

Paris: Defender Lilian Thuram has announced his retirement from international soccer after 103 appearances for France.

“I have decided to quit Les Bleus. I’m 32. I know I have already given France the best I could give,” Thuram, who is equal second in the country’s list for all-time caps, told sports daily L’Equipe on Tuesday.

“In two years time there will be another World Cup. Maybe some players will be performing better than me. It’s time they get ready. It’s the end of Thuram’s cycle,” he added.

Thuram was a key player in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 winning teams. In 10 years on the right flank he scored just two goals, both in the same game to give France a 2-1 win over Croatia in their 1998 World Cup semi-final.

“It was a moment of pure madness,” he told L’Equipe.“I think I shall be linked to these two goals for eternity.”

Born in Guadeloupe, Thuram won his first cap in August 1994 against the Czech Republic and played his last international as France were defeated by Greece in the Euro 2004 quarter finals.

He became France’s third player to break the 100-cap threshold after the 1998 World Cup-winning captain Didier Deschamps (103) and the Euro 2000 and 2004 skipper Marcel Desailly (116).