Australia captain Mile Jedinak retires from international football

SYDNEY, Australia – Socceroos’ skipper Mile Jedinak will not lead Australia in its defense of the Asian Cup next year after calling an end to his international football career on Monday, October 1. 

The 34-year-old, who plays for English Championship side Aston Villa and led his team to two World Cups, announced his decision in a lengthy message on Instagram.

“After a huge amount of time reflecting and discussing with those closest with me, I feel that it is the right time to move aside in order to focus on my club football and prolonging that journey,” Jedinak wrote.

“As a young boy growing up it was my dream to play for Australia and to pull on the famous green and gold shirt to represent my country.”

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I can confirm that after much deliberation I have made the decision to retire from playing international football. As a young boy growing up it was my dream to play for Australia and to pull on the famous green and gold shirt to represent my country. To have been given the opportunity to not only fulfil that dream, but to have done it 79 times, and many of which as captain, makes me incredibly proud and thankful. The countless unbelievable moments that I have experienced will stay with me forever, and I can honestly say that looking back I’ve had some of the best times of my life on the pitch playing for the Socceroos. It is an enormous privilege to represent your country and one I did not take lightly. Words will never be able to do justice the feeling of immense pride I felt when representing Australia. I gave everything I had in every single game I played to try and achieve success for our nation. However, after a huge amount of time reflecting and discussing with those closest with me, I feel that it is the right time to move aside in order to focus on my club football and prolonging that journey. Looking back, I feel blessed to be able to leave with memories that will last a lifetime. The feeling of captaining our country to Asian Cup glory in 2015, and to have been able to contribute to achieving success for Australia, will stay with me forever. Additionally being able to captain the team, and score, in two World Cups is something I could only have dreamed about as a b oy. There are just too many highlights to mention them all. I would like to thank all of those who helped make it all possible. Thank you to everyone at the FFA, the team management and all of my teammates throughout the years. It’s been an incredible journey alongside you all. Thank you to my family for your unwavering love and support throughout my international career. And finally I have to say a special thank you to the Australian fans for believing in me and supporting me through thick and thin. I’ve tried to do you all proud every time I’ve stepped out on to the pitch. We have an exciting generation of players coming through and I now can’t wait to support the team in the future

A post shared by Mile Jedinak (@milejedinak15) on Sep 30, 2018 at 11:57pm PDT

Jedinak, who has 79 caps for the Socceroos and scored 20 international goals between 2008 and 2018, helped the team qualify for this year’s World Cup after scoring a hat-trick against Honduras in a playoff.

He was hailed by governing body Football Federation Australia as a role model for younger players.

“Mile Jedinak has been a fantastic servant to Australian football over a long period of time and his leadership of the national team has been truly inspirational,” FFA chairman Steven Lowy said in a statement.

Jedinak led Australia to the Asian Cup title in 2015 and his retirement means the team will be without him and veteran goalscorer Tim Cahill when they defend the trophy in the United Arab Emirates early next year.

Cahill, 38, hung up his boots in July after a stellar career for his country that saw him go to four World Cups and score 50 international goals in 107 appearances. – Rappler.com