Atletico Madrid player Vitsel said on his Instagram account, “After much thought, I made the decision to retire from international football with a lot of emotions. It was a great honor for me to have been able to represent my country over the last 15 years.”
“It is important for me now to devote more time to my family and focus on my team (…) Good luck to the new generation, which I am sure will bring us great moments,” the former German player, Borussia Dortmund, was quoted by France Press.
Witsel played 130 international matches with the first team, and made his debut in 2008 during a friendly match against Morocco, which his country lost 4-1, and he scored the only goal for the Red Devils.
With Belgium, he won the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the bronze medal at the expense of England. He was also in the squad that was eliminated in the first round of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Last March, the new Italian-German coach Domenico Tedesco, the Spanish successor to Roberto Martinez, excluded him from the first window of the 2024 European Cup qualifiers, considering that he did not play enough time with his club.
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