Mile Jedinak has announced his retirement from international football in a statement shared to his Instagram this evening.
The midfielder who captained the Socceroos at two World Cups made his debut back in 2008 against Singapore and played a total of 79 times for the national team. Jedinak scored 20 goals for Australia including a hat-trick against Honduras in 2017 which sent the team to the Russia World Cup.
Jedinak confirmed his retirement in a heartfelt statement sharing that after “much deliberation” he had made the decision to retire from playing international football.
As a young boy growing up it was my dream to play for Australia and to pull on the famous green and gold shirt to represent my country. To have been given the opportunity to not only fulfil that dream, but to have done it 79 times, and many of which as captain, makes me incredibly proud and thankful.
The countless unbelievable moments that I have experienced will stay with me forever, and I can honestly say that looking back I’ve had some of the best times of my life on the pitch playing for the Socceroos.
It is an enormous privilege to represent your country and one I did not take lightly. Words will never be able to do justice the feeling of immense pride I felt when representing Australia. I gave everything I had in every single game I played to try and achieve success for our nation.
The legend reflected on his many achievements throughout his career which includes leading the team to their “Asian Cup glory in 2015”.
Jedinak thanked his team and management and gave a special thank you to his family for their “unwavering support”.
“And finally I have to say a special thank you to the Australian fans for believing in me and supporting me through thick and thin. I’ve tried to do you all proud every time I’ve stepped out on to the pitch. We have an exciting generation of players coming through and I now can’t wait to support the team in the future.”
You can read Jedinak’s full statement below.
