Nasri Retires from International Football Following Claims of Unhappiness in French Squad
By: Opeyemi Oladunjoye
Manchester City midfielder, Samir Nasri has confirmed his retirement from international football.
The 27-year-old had said earlier that he would never play for France again under coach, Didier Deschamps,having been omitted from the France squad that went to the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.
“I will only be 29 in 2016 for the European Championship, but the French national team doesn’t make me happy,” Nasri had said in an interview. “Every time I go there, there is just more trouble. I face accusations about me and my family suffers from it and I don’t want to make them suffer, so it’s better to stop it and focus on my club career.”
Nasri made his France debut at the age of 19 in 2007 and has won 41 caps, scoring five goals, but his international career has been dogged by controversy.
He clashed with senior players during the 2008 UEFA European Championship, while a verbal exchange with a journalist following France’s elimination at EURO 2012 saw him receive a three-game ban. He was also left out of the France squad for the 2010 World Cup.
“Let’s face it, as long as he is going to be the manager, I don’t think I have a shot after everything that has happened,” Nasri said of Deschamps. “It’s not just him. He did what he thought was best for his team. I understand his choice. It is not something about him. I don’t have any problem with him. It’s just everything.
“It is not him who talks in the press, it is the press who say things about me and the players as well. Before this World Cup they were saying that some players complain (about Nasri). Why do you want me to be in the group with some players who can’t even be true in front of me and tell me that they have a problem? I don’t want to be there. I am not happy. I don’t want to go there any more.”
