In order to concentrate on his club commitments with Reading Ivar Ingimarsson has decided to retire from international football with Iceland.
Ingimarsson, 31, had decided to retire from international football after the final round of Euro 2008 qualification matches because he no longer feels he can cope with the strains of both domestic and international football, but after speaking to Icelandic manager Olafur Johanesson to explain his decision it has been taken with immediate effect, “I spoke to the new Iceland manager and I decided this would be my last qualifying competition,” Ingimarsson told the Reading Chronicle.
“I feel I more or less need this. It’s taken me a long time to reach Premiership level and it’s very hard to keep playing consistently well when you have international commitments.
“In the past I’ve always played the majority of games in a domestic season. To do that now I need the international breaks to recover.”
Ingimarsson was last season voted the player of the year for Reading, so with him now able to relax more during the international breaks he should be able to offer a lot more to the club again.
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It’s a shame for Iceland, but for Reading this will only be a good thing
He seems to be doing what quite a few ageing internationals are doing and retiring so that he can prolong his career in the Premiership.
31 isn’t exactly old though is it, but it will prolong his club career with Reading, which is good for us.
have to admire him in a way…you guys can only benefit in a way and he will hopefully keep playing a bit longer where he wants too…..
That should be the case shouldn’t it, all being well?