One of Costa Rica’s all-time greats has played his last game for the Ticos.
Goalkeeper Keylor Navas announced his international retirement on Thursday, ending a national team career that began all the way back in 2008.
Navas announced the news on Instagram, with a post captioned “We will stay united forever, thank you Costa Rica! Pura vida!”
In the video, Navas went on to say that “every moment spent with the national team has been a dream come true that I have enjoyed enormously,” before eventually admitting that “this stage of my life with the national team has come to an end.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/C7U52mFCv_x/
Navas, 37, is in the final weeks of his contract with Paris Saint-Germain, where he has spent the large part of the last five seasons (he also spent half a season on loan with Nottingham Forest in that time).
At PSG, he was first choice more often than not, but has been largely stuck behind Gianluigi Donnarumma over the past two seasons. Earlier in May, Navas announced that he would leave the French giants at season’s end, with rumors in recent weeks linking him to Inter Miami, Newcastle, or a move to Saudi Arabia.
With Costa Rica, Navas has been nothing short of a legend, amassing 114 caps (sixth-most in the country’s men’s national team’s history) and appearing in three World Cups. Navas is considered one of the best goalkeepers in Concacaf history, winning the region’s men’s Player of the Year award twice and a place on the IFFHS Concacaf Team of the Decade for 2011-20.
Costa Rica is set to participate in this summer’s Copa América, and will have to do so with an inexperienced goalkeeper. The other six options to receive call-ups since last summer have a total of 13 caps among them.
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