Chile's Pizarro calls it a day

Chilean David Pizarro has announced his retirement from international football.

Chilean captain David Pizarro has announced his retirement from international football after his country's failure to qualify for Germany 2006.

The Internazionale midfielder refused to elaborate on his motives, despite taking the decision at just 26 years of age.

"I am not going to explain the reasons for my decision, the only thing that I can say is that I will not play any more for the national team," he said.

"I don't have much more to say. This is what I have to say and I expect to be respected, this is a decision that I already had in mind some time ago.

"I am glad to say that I leave the national team thinking of the positive things that I did for it and that was to win a medal in the Olympic games."

Chile lost out on a World Cup qualifying play-off place to Uruguay and Pizarro revealed his frustration at Wednesday's failure.

"The players weren't the only ones responsible for not qualifying," added Pizarro.

"We all gave our best but it wasn't possible because the other teams were better."