Arsenal center back Laurent Koscielny has announced his retirement from the French national team.
Laurent Koscielny, 33, missed out on France’s World Cup triumph because of an injury he sustained in May. He had been managing an achilles issue for around two years. The Arsenal captain finally broke down during the second leg of Arsenal’s Europa League semi final against Atletico Madrid.
The achilles tendon injury has kept him out since then, and he is expected to return at the end of November.
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Following his international retirement, Laurent Koscielny opened up about what it was like to watch France’s World Cup win.
“I wanted them to qualify for the next round, and at the same time I wanted them to lose. It is a selfish side,” he told Canal +.
“Certain people will say: ‘How could he want France to lose?’ but that was my feeling in those particular moments.
“I think that I have given everything I can for France, I am 33, I have done two Euros, one World Cup. France has a great generation of great players now.
“My injury does not change my decision. For Les Bleus, it is finished.”
Koscielny also revealed that he was shut out by coach Didier Deschamps after getting injured.
“It feels like a hit on the back of the head. When you are in good form, you have lots of friends, when you are injured after a certain period of time, you are forgotten about.
“He [Deschamps] called me once for my birthday in September. Otherwise, no. Lots of people disappointed me.
“Not only the coach.”
The injury has had a serious impact on Koscielny’s late career. Before, he was looking at a World Cup, and a possible Arsenal exit. Now, he has to fight his way back into the Arsenal team after retiring from France.
His agent revealed that they were thinking of a transfer away from Arsenal before the injury:
“Laurent was perhaps playing the final matches of his Arsenal career. He had started thinking about a possible departure from Arsenal at the same time as Arsene Wenger. It was the right moment, the final moment to leave with the arrival of the new manager. The notion of returning to Ligue 1 entered his thinking. It was a genuine possibility.”
