'I'll cherish everything': World Cup winner Llorente retires from international football

[p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/atl-madrid/jaarqpLQ/"]Atletico Madrid[/a] defender, ‌31, made his senior ‌team debut for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/spain/bLyo6mco/"]Spain[/a] in 2020 ‌and was part of the squad ‌that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/argentina-f9OppQjp/spain-bLyo6mco/?mid=UgbUKPmT"]beat Argentina 1-0[/a] to win the World Cup in July, although ‌he remained on the ⁠bench in ‌the final.[/p][p][b]"I realise that I’m still young ​and that, perhaps, if I continued to perform well, ​I’d still have years left to play in this jersey,"[/b] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/llorente-marcos/z3D5zvbD/"]Llorente[/a] ⁠wrote on ​Instagram.[/p][embed guid="cb83f3b3-d43f-4537-b94b-32b6cc0087ec" url="https://x.com/atletienglish/status/2095563871880728608" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"I know many of you won’t understand this, and I probably wouldn’t have understood it either if ‌I were looking at it from the outside. But it’s a personal decision - one I’ve thought through very carefully and, above all, one that comes from the heart."[/b][/p][p]The former [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/real-madrid/W8mj7MDD/"]Real Madrid[/a] player thanked his teammates and reflected on Spain's ‌triumphant World Cup campaign.[/p][p][b]"I’ll cherish everything ​I’ve experienced, but above all, ‌these last 52 days,"[/b] Llorente said.[/p][p]"With a wonderful group that fought until the very end to put Spain at the top. ⁠And that’s ⁠exactly what ‌they did."[/p][infobox id="0e8bad0a-7630-46a8-afe3-fa090b228a06" /]