(Image source from: Germany captain Philipp Lahm retires})

Germany's captain Philipp Lahm has announced his decision to retire from international football. The 30-year-old captain of the World Cup-winning team called up Wolfgang Niersbach, president of German Football Federation (DFB) conveying his decision on Friday.

Since his debut on Feb 18, 2004, where Germany had a 2-1 victory over Croatia, Lahm played 113 matches for his country.

Niersbach says that he could tell from the beginning of the conversation that talking Lahm out of his decision would be a futile attempt. During the 10 years of his association with the national team, he had been an outstanding player and also a great role model, added Niersbach while thanking Lahm for his contribution to the DFB.

Joachim Loew, Germany's coach, was also informed of Lahm's decision.

Recently Lahm extended his contract with Bayern Munich to 2018.

(AW: Pratima Tigga)