Former Atletico Madrid and Barcelona striker David Villa has revealed that he will retire from international duty after the end of the World Cup 2014. The Spanish striker has been one of the best in the world, but he is coming to the end of his career. After several years in Spain, he finally sealed a move to New York City to play in the MLS. He is expected to be joined by Chelsea star Frank Lampard. Villa is one of the revered strikers in world football and he is the current record goalscorer for the national team.

However, he has lost a lot of pace in the last few years and this has contributed to his consistent decline in form. Even though he helped Atletico Madrid to their first league title in almost 2 decades, he has been heavily linked with a move away and it finally came in the form of a move to New York City. Speaking ahead of the World Cup 2014, Villa confirmed that this will be his final major tournament with the Spanish national team, as he does not intend to carry on playing international football for the benefit of his club career. The 32-year-old has represented the national team in 95 matches.

“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. 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]. 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,” said the Spanish striker.