After 143 appearances for Spain, Sergio Busquets has declared his retirement from international play.
🚨 BREAKING: Sergio Busquets has announced his retirement from international football 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/RpfnEqQPd7
— 433 (@433) December 16, 2022
The Barcelona midfielder was a key member of the national team up until the World Cup 2022, helping La Roja to victories at both the 2010 and 2012 Euros.
He served as the experienced core of Luis Enrique’s midfield in Qatar this month, with club teammates Gavi and Pedri on either side of him as La Seleccion advanced to the round of 16, only to lose to eventual semifinalist Morocco on penalties.
Busquets took Spain’s third and final penalty kick in the shootout, which meant his final action while wearing the national team jersey was a miss that effectively eliminated his team.
Despite that, Busquets will be far more widely remembered as one of the greatest in a generation of midfielders – alongside the likes of Xavi, Xabi Alonso and Andres Iniesta – who largely redefined play in the middle third during the modern era and certainly came to define the successful Spanish team which won three major tournaments in a row.
For many, he has simply been the best holding midfielder in the game of the last decade.
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Now aged 34, Busquets played the full 90 minutes of both finals that he won with Spain and was the team’s captain this time around.
He made his debut for the senior side in 2009 and between that year and this, only twice played fewer than eight games in a calendar year for Spain.
Only Sergio Ramos (180) and Iker Casillas (167) made more appearances for Spain than Busquets.
Despite his regular appearances, Busquets only scored twice at international level.
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