Sept 3 (Reuters) - Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko announced on Thursday that he will retire from international football next month, bringing the curtain down on a career spanning nearly two decades.
The 40-year-old Schalke 04 forward, who has also played for clubs including Manchester City, AS Roma and Inter Milan, said his final national team appearance would come against Sweden in the Nations League on October 2.
"Nothing in my career has ever compared to the pride I have felt every single time I wore that shirt," Dzeko posted on Instagram.
"It was my childhood dream, a dream I carried with me on each of the 151 occasions I had the honour of representing my country on a football pitch ... Almost 20 years have passed since that match against Turkey.
"So many things have changed, and I have changed too, but my love for this shirt never has. Now I feel the time has come to step aside. If I have made it to the age of 40 with the national team, it is because I truly gave everything I had. Every time. Everything."
Dzeko made his international debut in 2007 and has scored 73 goals in his 151 appearances, making him Bosnia's most-capped player and all-time leading scorer.
He helped the country qualify for their first World Cup in 2014 and also played a key role in the 2026 tournament, where they reached the last 32.
(Reporting by Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
