Marcos Llorente announces his retirement from the Spanish team

Marcos Llorente, Atlético de Madrid player, has said goodbye to the Spanish soccer team. The full-back, days after becoming world champion with Spain in the United States, Mexico and Canada, has announced his retirement from the Spanish team through his official Instagram profile and has acknowledged that "it has been an honor to represent the country and be part of history."

"I am aware that I am still young and that, perhaps, if I continued doing things well, I would still have years left to continue playing with this shirt. I know that many of you will not understand it and, surely, I would not have understood it from the outside either. But it is a personal decision, very thoughtful and, above all, very heartfelt," he began in the statement.

At the same time, he revealed that it was a decision that "had already been made", regardless of what happened in the last World Cup: "Regardless of whether I had gone to the World Cup or not, or whether we had won or not, I had already made this decision. I can only be infinitely grateful to all the people I have met during these years and who have made it possible for my family and I to live unique and unforgettable moments."