Igor Akinfeev has ended his 14-year international career on the high of captaining Russia to the World Cup quarter-finals.
The long-serving goalkeeper revealed his decision to step down from the national team on Monday in order to concentrate on club side CSKA Moscow.
Akinfeev debuted as a teenager and went on to collect 111 caps, starting his first major tournament in Russia s run to the final four at Euro 2008.
The 32-year-old s crowning moment came on home soil a decade later as he memorably made two shoot-out saves in the last-16 success against Spain.
Every story has a beginning and an end, Akinfeev wrote in a statement on CSKA s website.
My story with the national team has come to its logical conclusion. It was a great honour for me to captain Russia at our World Cup.
To be honest, I had never dreamed such a thing was possible. But it happened and was probably the peak of my international career.
Fifteen years in international football is a long time. With each passing year it becomes harder to play on two fronts. Bearing in mind my prior injuries, I need more and more time to recover.
And I have realised that it is time to step aside in favour of my younger colleagues, and focus on my beloved club, CSKA. I leave with a calm conscience Russia have very talented and promising youngsters, some of whom proved their leadership skills at the World Cup.
