Chelsea defender Ashley Cole has announced his retirement from international football after he was left out of England's 23-man squad for the World Cup finals.
Having lost his position to Chelsea's Cesar Azpilicueta, Roy Hodgson deemed Cole unfit to be named amongst the World Cup; as he preferred Leighton Baines and Luke Shaw at the left side of his defense.
The 33-year-old, who made 107 caps for England, reportedly rejected the offer to be on the standby list for Brazil and chose to retire instead. He later took to twitter to confirm his retirement.
"We have a great manager and team and I wish them only success. I will be supporting them like a true fan. Thanks to everyone for everything.
"#Baines and #shaw are great players, proved this season, and are the future of this country, it was a pleasure to get #107 caps #eng" Ashley Cole (@TheRealAC3) twitted on May 11, 2014.
Meanwhile, Hodgson has admitted that leaving the veteran left back out of his World Cup squad was one of the hardest decisions of his managerial career.
"Among many difficult decisions I've had to make for my squad, not selecting Ashley was one of the hardest.
"He's been an incredible competitor for England, to amass over a century of caps is a truly staggering achievement and he deserves enormous credit for the desire and brilliance which has shone through over the years he has represented his country.
"There are few players who can be considered among the very best in the world, but Ashley in his prime was the best left-back without question.
"The most important factor was speaking to Ashley prior to the announcement on Monday, he deserved to hear it directly from me and he took the news with huge grace.
"In two years working with him he has shown nothing but relentless professionalism, and a great hunger to play for England. He is someone I have the utmost respect for and I wished him all the best, he in turn wished the team well this summer.
"Of course I must respect his decision to retire, he has been one of England's finest players, but I want to look to the future. It has been one of the hardest decisions of my career," Roy was quoted as saying by ESPN.
Cole's contract with the Blues expires in the summer.