Netherlands captain Robben – I´m not quitting international stage

Bayern Munich forward Arjen Robben has no intention of retiring from international football despite admitting it could help him avoid the kind of injury that will see him miss the start of the season.

Netherlands international Robben has been ruled out for six weeks with a groin problem that will preclude him from the rest of Bayern’s pre-season programme as well as the early weeks of the Bundesliga campaign.

The 32-year-old has been plagued by fitness concerns throughout his career but, despite being at an age when many players wind down their international careers to focus on club matters, Robben says that is not on his agenda.

Asked if he was thinking of quitting Netherlands duty, the former Real Madrid man told Goal.com: “No. No, not at all. Not yet.

“Of course you think about every situation and especially the physical stuff is an issue for me. You can have some more breaks [if you leave international football] which might be good but I’m very proud to be able to play for Netherlands.

“I’m the team’s captain and it’s an honour to play for your country. And I don’t want to abandon that yet.”

Netherlands missed out on qualification for Euro 2016 and Robben revealed he did not watch any games from the group stage in France.

He added: “It’s not easy during a tournament when you know you didn’t qualify. And we definitely had to be there… so this was a disappointment.

“I didn’t really watch any live games but I followed the Bayern lads’ progress with interest. When I was back I watched a few games in the knockout stage.

“I preferred to have some quality time with my family. We have been on vacation in the United States for a few weeks but I looked at the results of course.”