Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy has called it quits on his international career because he wants to focus on club football. Vardy has informed England coach Gareth Southgate about his decision.
Jamie Vardy made his international debut in 2015 when he was already 28. He came on as a substitute for then-captain Wayne Rooney in a friendly against Republic of Ireland at Dublin. He has since played 26 matches for The Three Lions, scoring 7 goals. Vardy played for England at Eur0 2016 and this summer’s World Cup.
In Euro 2016, Vardy scored in a match against Wales. At the World Cup, Vardy started in England’s group game against Belgium. He also made three substitute appearances against Panama, Colombia and Croatia.
Vardy said, “This has been on my mind for a while. I’m not getting any younger and you can see, to be fair to the gaffer, he wants to make it more youthful, which obviously had its benefits during the World Cup – we got to the semi-finals and finished fourth, which is equal to the furthest we have ever been on foreign soil. So I just said to Gareth that I think it’s probably best from now on, especially with the way he wants to go, to bring youngsters in who he thinks have got the ability and start nurturing them into international football.”
Vardy is currently serving a three-match ban in the Premier League due to his red card against Wolves. In his absence, Leicester City beat Southampton.
