Handanovic retires from the Slovenian National Team

Slovenia took on Ukraine during the international break as part of the Euro 2016 play-offs, and as usual, Inter keeper Samir Handanovic took his place in goal for those matches. The first leg saw his side slip to a 2-0 defeat, and though the Slovenians scored early in the second leg, Ukraine managed to score a late equalizer which saw Handanovic's side fail to secure a place in France for next summer's tournament.

Handanovic was rightly disappointed and said to the media that he was done with the national team following the match. While there was some confusion at first in determining if he was just venting his frustration or if he actually was quitting, it seems that the 31 year old has decided to retire from the national team.

He started his international career on November 17, 2004 in a match against Slovakia. Handanovic captained the side for the first time on his 23rd cap in a friendly against Sweden and from there went on to pick up over 79 caps for Slovenia. His only international tournament he went to during his career was the 2010 World Cup. Handanovic will be replaced by another great goalkeeper in Atlético Madrid's Jan Oblak.

While his time away for international duty might not have gone so well, Handanovic has been in great form for Inter. We can only hope that this disappointment does not affect his performances under Mancini and that he will be even more focused to pick up as many trophies as possible in the remainder of his playing career.