David Villa has announced that he will bring an end to his international career after the World Cup.
The 32-year-old has won 95 caps for the Spanish national side and, with a move to the MLS in 2015 to New York City FC confirmed, Villa is looking to focus on his club career after the campaign in Brazil.
“I don’t like to say that I’m saying goodbye, but obviously at the World Cup I’ll be playing my last games for Spain,” Villa told Channel Cuatro.
“Now I want to enjoy myself from the word go, put in a great World Cup and, why not, get another star [on the Spain shirt].”
Villa added that he feels ready to play on for several more years and is targeting success in America next year after a break from the sport following the World Cup.
He said: “It’s one of the reasons why I’ve accepted [New York City FC’s offer]: I still have a lot of football left in me.
“If not, I would have gone home, although I didn’t consider the possibility of retiring. I want to make a name for myself here and make people talk about David Villa in this part of the world.
“I’m going to train, there’ll be someone by my side the whole time. After the busy time I’ve had, it’ll be good for me. I haven’t had summer holidays for a number of years and in these months I’ll be able to recover well.”
And Villa, a member of this season’s league winning Atletico Madrid side, dismissed speculation of a mass exile from the Vicente Calderon, stating that it was nothing new for a successful side to receive interest for it’s stars.
“The players are very happy at Atletico,” Villa continued.
“There’s a lot of talk that a number of players are going to leave, but it’s normal that European teams want Atletico’s players. That’s something to be proud about.
“They have contracts and I’m sure that Atletico are going to perform really well for years to come.”
Source: Goal