Former Liverpool star Dejan Lovren announces retirement from international football

Former Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren announced his retirement from international football on Thursday, February 23. The player started all the games for Croatia except the third-place play-off clash against Morocco during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Lovren, 33, made 78 appearances for the Croatian national team during his career. He made his debut in 2009, in an international friendly against Qatar.

Lovren's last appearance for Croatia came in the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-final against Argentina, where the Vatreni lost by a scoreline of 3-0.

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Lovren made 185 appearances for Liverpool as well. He won one UEFA Champions League, one Premier League title, and one UEFA Super Cup during his time for the Anfield-based club.

Dejan Lovren recently rejoined French side Olympique Lyon and has made nine appearances for the Ligue 1 club so far.

Former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez named player he missed out on

Former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez recently named Juanfran as a player that he missed out on during his time at the Anfield-based club. Benitez was in charge of the Reds for 350 matches between 2004 and 2010.

Benitez, however, recently spoke about how he missed out on Juanfran. The Spaniard used to play as a full-back during his career. Speaking on the We Are Liverpool podcast, Benitez said:

“I had to try to get the best deal for my football club, I was talking with Real because I knew Real Madrid quite well, and I was talking with a friend of mine, who was a journalist close to the president, to give me information about what they were thinking. And I knew 100 percent that they would do the deal."

Benitez further added:

“So I said to Rick Parry: ‘Rick, we have to do this price, and try to get this young player Juanfran in the deal’. Juanfran was playing for Real Madrid’s B team, and went on to play for Atletico Madrid as a right full-back and right winger. We needed a right winger."

Benitez said:

“They said no, and then they put (Antonio) Nunez in the deal. We got Nunez, who was injured (a lot) and was maybe not the best signing, but I was trying to bring someone else to improve the deal for us, because it was done, it was just a question of how much.”

🚨 NEW: Rafa Benitez has revealed that he tried to sign Dani Alves, Stefan Jovetic and Juanfran during various points in his tenure as Liverpool manager. #lfc [official liverpool podcast via liverpool echo]

Juanfran played for teams like Espanyol and Osasuna before joining Atletico Madrid in 2011. The Reds, meanwhile, signed Alvaro Arbeola under Benitez.