Cameroon midfielder Alexandre Song has announced his retirement from international football on Tuesday night.
“My love for my country will never change,” the 27-year old said on his Instagram account.
“I want to take time to focus purely on domestic football and start to rebuild my career at West Ham United.
“Since the World Cup in the summer and my subsequent exclusion from the Cameroon squad for the African Cup of Nations I have taken the decision to retire from international football.
“It is true that there were some discussions of late to include me in the squad for this tournament but I feel after a lot of careful thought and numerous discussions with my family this is the right decision.”
Left out from the Indomitable Lions since his red card against Croatia at the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014, the former Arsenal and Barcelona player missed out on the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations’ qualifiers before being dropped again ahead of the continental showpiece.
Song follows in the footsteps of former teammates Samuel Eto’o, Jean II Makoun and Achille Webo, who have all quitted Cameroon duty in the aftermath of the World Cup.
He earned 47 international caps between 2005 and 2014, competing at the 2008 and 2010 AFCON as well as at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups.