French striker Christophe Dugarry has announced today he is retiring from international football following the World Cup holders' flop in this year's finals.
Dugarry, a member of France's 1998 World Cup-winning squad, said in today's l'Equipenewspaper he was tired of playing for the national team which crashed out in the first round of this year's tournament without scoring a single goal.
"I'm tired of fighting ... I've never surfed on a popular wave of support that would have made things easier for me," he said.
The 30-year-old Bordeaux player said he had no interest in continuing until the 2004 European Championships when France will be defending their title.
"I don't see what another European Championships is going to change. The French national team belongs to the past for me," he said.
"It's up to those who still have the motivation to continue with the national squad and to shake things up by taking on board their responsibilities.
"It's not Christophe Dugarry who is going to solve the problem."
Dugarry, who scored eight goals in 55 games for his country, said France had flopped at this World Cup because "we weren't capable of lifting the tempo of the game and our physical level in the way that the Koreans have done."
AFP