Russian WC skipper Akinfeev quits soccer

MOSCOW: CSKA Moscow goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, Russia’s World Cup captain, announced Monday he was retiring from international football after playing 111 times for his country.

Akinfeev, 32, said after 15 years with the national side he had decided to give way to his younger colleagues and to focus completely on his club duties. “Every story has its beginning and its end. So, my story with the national team has come to its logical conclusion,” he said in a statement on CSKA’s website.

“It was a great honour for me to captain Russia’s national side at a home World Cup. I hadn’t even dreamt it could happen. But it has happened and it was probably the peak of my career. “I leave with a clear conscience. A young and promising generation (of players) has appeared in Russia,” he added. “We must believe in our youth and support them.”

At the World Cup, Akinfeev played every minute of Russia’s matches as they confounded pre-tournament predictions by reaching the last eight, where they were beaten by eventual finalists Croatia in a penalty shoot-out. Akinfeev saved a penalty from Iago Aspas in the last-16 shoot-out against Spain that secured Russia a place in the quarter-finals.

He made his debut for Russia in 2004. He was a member of the national squad which reached the last four of Euro 2008 and played for Russia at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Zenit’s Andrey Lunev played in last month’s games against Turkey and the Czech Republic and now looks set to have the chance to establish himself as Russia’s first-choice goalkeeper.

Anton Shunin of Dynamo Moscow and the Brazilian-born Guilherme Marinato are also in the squad for this month’s Nations League games against Turkey and Sweden.Alexander Golovin of Monaco and Alan Dzagoev of CSKA are also in a 25-man squad after recovering from injuries. Russia take on Sweden on October 11 in Kaliningrad and then face Turkey in the Black Sea resort of Sochi three days later.

Jedinak retires from int’l soccer: Socceroos’ skipper Mile Jedinak will not lead Australia in its defence of the Asian Cup next year after calling an end to his international football career on Monday. The 34-year-old, who plays for English Championship side Aston Villa and led his team to two World Cups, announced his decision in a lengthy message on Instagram.

“After a huge amount of time reflecting and discussing with those closest with me, I feel that it is the right time to move aside in order to focus on my club football and prolonging that journey,” Jedinak wrote. “As a young boy growing up it was my dream to play for Australia and to pull on the famous green and gold shirt to represent my country.”

Jedinak, who has 79 caps for the Socceroos and scored 20 international goals between 2008 and 2018, helped the team qualify for this year’s World Cup after scoring a hat-trick against Honduras in a play-off. He was hailed by governing body Football Federation Australia as a role model for younger players. “Mile Jedinak has been a fantastic servant to Australian football over a long period of time and his leadership of the national team has been truly inspirational,” FFA chairman Steven Lowy said in a statement.

Jedinak led Australia to the Asian Cup title in 2015 and his retirement means the team will be without him and veteran goalscorer Tim Cahill when they defend the trophy in the United Arab Emirates early next year. Cahill, 38, hung up his boots in July after a stellar career for his country that saw him go to four World Cups and score 50 international goals in 107 appearances.