Chelsea striker Gonzalo Higuain has called it quits with the national team at the age of 31.
Higuain confirmed his retirement from the Argentine national team on Thursday evening as he revealed that the critics can now focus on new players.
The 31-year-old has been snubbed by the new Argentine manager Lionel Scaloni who has preferred younger players like the Inter Milan duo of Mauro Icardi and Lautaro Martinez.
Other young strikers like the Argentina-based duo of Matias Suarez and Dario Benedetto have also been invited by the aforementioned Scaloni.
Gonzalo Higuain made his debut for the national team in 2009 when he was still at Spanish club Real Madrid.
The Chelsea hitman made a scoring debut for the two-time world champions in what was a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match with Peru.
Argentina needed to win to book their spot in South Africa and that was what they did as Higuain scored enroute a last-minute 2-1 win over the Peruvians.
His first game for Argentina came under the managerial era of legend Diego Maradona.
Higuain has not played for Argentina since the disastrous outing of the last World Cup tournament in Russia.
The former Napoli striker felt the time was right for him to quit the national team after scoring 31 goals in 75 games.
