Philippe Albert, the Newcastle United and Belgium defender, yesterday announced his retirement from international football - just hours after being named in a squad of 19 for next Wednesday's World Cup play-off at Lansdowne Road. Within hours of manager Georges Leekens selecting him for the Dublin assignment, the central defender said that his international career was over.
"I am now 30 and I want to concentrate on my club career with Newcastle," he said. "I have made 41 appearances for my country and have been lucky enough to play in the last two World Cup finals. Now it is finished, but I wish Belgium the best of luck for their game in Dublin."
Albert found himself at the centre of public attention after Belgium had been beaten 3-1 by Holland last month. As a direct result of that flawed performance, he was excluded from the team which struggled to a 3-2 win over Wales a fortnight ago.
At club level, too, his fortunes have dwindled and after being dropped for last Saturday's heavy defeat by Leeds United, he was again omitted from the starting line-up for Newcastle's Champions League meeting with PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday. Later, he was introduced as a second-half replacement for Warren Barton.
It is understood the player talked things over with his club manager Kenny Dalglish before making the announcement to retire.
Leekens made no secret of his disappointment at Albert's performance against Holland but reckoned that his experience and knowledge of the game in Britain, could be usefully deployed in Dublin. To that extent, he will be disappointed by the player's announcement which clearly took the Belgian authorities by surprise.
"We wanted to give Albert a chance to bring himself back into favour after his weaker performances (in previous matches)," said Belgian assistant coach, Eddy Snelders, yesterday.
"I think Philippe was a bit angry because he was left out for the Wales match . . . but it is not appropriate to embarrass the whole of Belgium for such an important game," Snelders said.
Albert, who was signed by Kevin Keegan for Newcastle after spells with Charleroi, Mechelen and Anderlecht, has long been recognised as one of Belgium's most accomplished players. Ironically, he won his first cap in the scoreless draw with Ireland in a European championship game at Lansdowne Road in 1987.
The other disquieting development for the Belgium manager yesterday was confirmation of the news that Enzo Scifo will not be fit to play after failing a fitness test on the groin injury which has troubled him at recurring intervals in recent weeks.
It is the second consecutive World Cup game that the midfielder has missed, following his late withdrawal from the game against Wales in which Leekens expressed concern about the collapse of his midfield formation in the second half.
It means that Franky Van der Elst, the FC Bruges midfielder, who has played in each of the last three World Cup finals, is now the senior member of the squad.
The Belgium manager had better news of Gilles de Bilde who proved his fitness in the PSV Eindhoven team which played Newcastle on Wednesday. De Bilde was unavailable for the Welsh game but has now apparently recovered sufficiently to join his club-mate Luc Nilis in the national squad.
But the loss of Scifo and Fiorentina striker Luis Oliveira, who is suspended, are tremendous blows to Belgium's hopes of gaining a favourable result in the first leg against Ireland.
Excluding the selection of Albert, there are six changes from the squad chosen for the Welsh game. Among those brought in, is the German-based striker, Michael Goosens, who was in the Schalke 04 team which beat Anderlecht in the UEFA Cup on Tuesday.
