Hyppia ponders international retirement

Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia is considering retiring from international football.

Following Finland’s failure to qualify for the World Cup finals, the 32-year-old centre half believes his chances of playing in a major finals have disappeared, with the Euro 2008 qualifiers not starting until next season.

Hyypia made his 75th appearance for his country in the recent 3-0 defeat by the Czech Republic where he played against former Liverpool team-mates Milan Baros and Vladimir Smicer.

Hyypia says: “I have thought about retiring from international football but I will wait a while longer and see how I feel.

“Finland have a new coach, Roy Hodgson, who is coming in next year and so that would be a good incentive to continue. The next qualifiers don’t start until August so I have plenty of time to think about it.

“I will take a little break from the international scene and see how I feel. When you have less international games it can help at club level so it will be good for me, the club and the team that I will feel fresher for Liverpool.”