FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Football - Women's Group B - Germany vs Australia - Marseille Stadium, Marseille, France - July 25, 2024. Alexandra Popp of Germany shoots at goal. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez/File Photo
(Reuters) - Germany women's team captain Alexandra Popp will retire from international football after a 14-year-long career, the striker said on Monday.
Popp will play her last match for Germany on Monday, Oct. 28, when the team host Australia in Duisburg.
The 33-year-old made her debut for Germany in 2010 and has since netted 67 goals in 144 appearances for her country. She won a gold medal with the national team at the Rio Games in 2016 and clinched bronze at the Paris Olympics in August.
Popp has participated in four Women’s World Cups, serving as captain in France in 2019 and again in Australia and New Zealand in 2023. She also led Germany to the final of the European Championship in 2022.
"I have always stressed that my gut will make the decision, and now it has," Popp said in a video posted on social media on Monday.
"After long, tearful deliberations, I have decided with a heavy heart to end my career with the national team. The fire that ignited in me 18 years ago and grew stronger from year to year has now almost burnt out."
Injuries ruled Popp out of Euro 2013, which Germany won, and she missed Euro 2017 due to an injury sustained prior to the tournament, where the team lost in the quarter-finals to Denmark.
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru)
