It is now indeed confirmed by Dejan Lovren that he has retired from international football and leaves his nation by being one of the finest Croatian center back to ever play the game.
He announced his decision today via social media and ended a 14-year run as a Croatian player. He debuted for Croatia back in 2009 and since then he has represented his country at 3 FIFA World Cups and 3 European Championship.
The 33-year-old was one of the pillars in Zlatko Dalic’s squad that did the unthinkable and reached the FIFA World Cup final back in 2018. He was also a part of the squad that won third place in the previous 2022 tournament in Qatar. During his career for Croatia, he played for them a total of 78 times and had managed to score 5 goals in the process.
Dejan Lovren retires from Croatian national team
In his retirement announcement, he majority thanked all his previous coaches and teammates. He urged the younger players coming through to use the team’s achievements and get inspired a lot. Now Lovren would continue his club football career with Lyon.
He returned to the French outfit after almost 10 years in January. Dejan started his career at Dinamo Zagreb and later he move to the likes of Lyon and Southampton and then he spent a memorable time at Liverpool where he won the Champions League and the Premier League.
In his announcement, he said, “The time has come for me to say my final goodbye to the Croatian national team, As a child, I dreamt of playing at major tournaments and getting to put on that red-and-white shirt.
“I put on the Croatian checkers for the first time when I was nine years old and I will never forget that special feeling – like putting on Superman’s cape. I felt powerful, confident, and fearless, just like my favourite superhero. The most beautiful chapters of my national team story were the ones that we wrote during the past five years.
“This is, if I’m being honest, still a complete dream to me. So many emotions went through me, especially in 2018 and 2022, and I find it difficult to put these experiences into words. These memories will remain in my heart forever. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”
