{"id":290145,"date":"2023-10-05T11:24:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T11:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=290145"},"modified":"2023-10-05T11:24:02","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T11:24:02","slug":"james-mcclean-to-retire-from-international-at-the-end-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/soccer\/james-mcclean-to-retire-from-international-at-the-end-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"James McClean to retire from international at the end of the year"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>James McClean retires from Republic of Ireland aged 34 after 102 caps with the Wrexham star set to play his last game in friendly against New Zealand next month&#8230; as he insists it is &#8216;the right time to step aside&#8217;<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The former Sunderland player said it has &#8216;meant the world&#8217; to represent Ireland<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The 34-year-old winger scored 11 goals for his country and played in two Euros<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>James McClean has confirmed he will retire from international football at the end of this year as he insists it is the &#8216;right time to step aside&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>Ireland&#8217;s friendly at home to New Zealand next month is set to provide the stage for the Derry native&#8217;s final match.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Irish centurion made his senior debut in 2012 and has so far won 102 caps for his country, scoring 11 goals and playing in two European Championships.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In a post on social media, the 34-year-old said: &#8216;I have come to a point, one that truth be told you never think is going to come but here we are, where I am announcing my retirement from international football at the end of the 2023 season.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I\u00a0have spoken with Stephen Kenny &amp; the New Zealand match in November at the Aviva Stadium will be the last time that I will celebrate pulling on the green jersey as a player and give me a chance to say goodbye to the best fans in the world.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/05\/11\/76198367-12597261-image-a-1_1696500471591.jpg\" height=\"497\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>James McClean applauds Irish fans at the end of their match against France on March 27<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/05\/11\/76198851-12597261-The_34_year_old_said_It_will_be_heartbreaking_not_to_be_involved-a-19_1696501769198.jpg\" height=\"381\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The 34-year-old said: &#8216;It will be heartbreaking not to be involved beyond this year, but I feel now is the right time to step aside without any regrets&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It has the meant the absolute world and more to be able to pull on the green jersey with honour, step out onto a football pitch &#8211; especially at the Aviva Stadium &#8211; to represent our great country, standing singing Amhr\u00e1n na bhFiann ready to go out into battle with your fellow countrymen.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Nothing has ever come close. I gave absolutely everything I had of myself to ensure that I did the jersey, the fans and the country proud, and know that I never took it for granted each time. I hope that showed.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It will be heartbreaking not to be involved beyond this year, but I feel now is the right time to step aside without any regrets. I lived my own and every young Irish footballer\u2019s dream &#8211; and represented this country with pride.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I want to thank all my managers &#8211; Giovanni, Martin, Mick and Stephen &#8211; for me giving me the opportunities; all my teammates; the staff, everyone from the coaching staff, right down to those at the hotel who looked after us; you, the Irish fans; and finally, a special thank you to my wife Erin for holding the fort back home with the kids &#8211; your unwavering and selfless support has allowed me to make the most of every second of my childhood dream.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Thank you, Ireland &#8211; it\u2019s been the biggest privilege and as always, an honour.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>There were some doubts over McClean&#8217;s future with Ireland after he made his move to the fourth tier of English football from Wigan to Wrexham, which prompted manager Stephen Kenny to say it was &#8216;not ideal&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>However, the former Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City player defended the move.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/05\/11\/76198867-12597261-image-a-20_1696501774264.jpg\" height=\"408\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>He added: &#8216;Thank you, Ireland &#8211; it\u2019s been the biggest privilege and as always, an honour&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12597261\/James-McClean-retire-international-Ireland.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>James McClean retires from Republic of Ireland aged 34 after 102 caps with the Wrexham star set to play his<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290144,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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