PRAGUE (AP) – Czech Republic forward Patrik Schick announced his retirement from international soccer Thursday, just hours after his team was eliminated from the World Cup.
“Today, my national team chapter comes to an end,” the 30-year-old Bayer Leverkusen player said in a statement on Instagram.
Schick made his debut in a friendly against Malta in May 2016 and went on to earn 56 caps and score 26 goals in total.
He scored a goal in his debut, but failed to score in the World Cup held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Schick came on as a substitute in the final Group A match against co-host Mexico, but the Czech Republic lost 3-0 and finished bottom of the group with just one point, meaning they had to return home.
“I’m going to leave here feeling proud of what I accomplished while wearing the national team uniform,” he said. “But at the same time, I felt that Czech football had much more to offer than what we have seen in recent years.”
Schick also competed in the last two European Championships. In the 2020 edition, he is tied at the top of the scoring list with five goals, alongside Portuguese great Cristiano Ronaldo.
One of Schick’s greatest goals was his second goal in the 2-0 win over Scotland at Euro 2020. He found the goalkeeper off his line just before the halfway line and fired a long shot that curled into the net.
The Czech Republic reached the quarterfinals of that tournament.
___
AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
