Hamburg forward Ivica Olic has announced his retirement from international football, meaning that he will not be able to help the Croatia national team at the Euro 2021 finals.
The 36-year-old footballer has made a total of 104 appearances for the national team, scoring 20 goals, and he felt it was time to call it quits, although the timing of the decision may come as a surprise.
Despite making eight appearances on the road to France, Olic opted against challenging for places in Ante Cacic’s squad for the tournament finals.
Olic announced his retirement in an open letter to the public that was published on the official website of Croatian Football Federation.
Having struggled for playing time at Hamburg of late, chances are that he wasn’t going to make the final squad anyway, and that was probably the reason for his decision.
Meanwhile, Croatia were placed alongside Turkey, Czech Republic and Spain in Group D at the Euro 2021 finals, while first warm-up games will see them face Israel (23.03.) and Hungary (26.03.) later this month.