This year's tournament provided the final full-stop to the international career of one of the greatest goal scorers in world soccer history, Gabriel Batistuta, 33, of Argentina.

Italy's Paolo Maldini, among the best defenders of all time who turned 34 on Wednesday, is bowing out of his national team.

And Brazilian playmaker Rivaldo, 30, has also said that this will be his last World Cup.

'Because of my age, I think I can say this is going to be my last World Cup game. So I want to win it,' he had told reporters before the final.

Whatever happened in the final against Germany, he had the consolation of knowing he made it to the final in his last World Cup.

Not so the goalkeeper who played more internationals than Rivaldo, Batistuta or Maldini.

Saudi Arabia's Mohammad al-Daeyea - recognised by world governing body Fifa as the second most-capped player ever with 165 appearances - is joining them in international retirement.

But his memories will be traumatic ones as he let in eight goals in Saudi Arabia's first match against Germany. His team lost 0-8. If he had not made up his mind already, that game probably convinced him it was time to go.

Others, like England's 38-year-old pony-tailed veteran goalkeeper David Seaman, beaten by a match-winning 35-metre free kick from Ronaldinho when Brazil knocked England out in the quarter-finals, are still considering their options.

Some players will not, of course, have an option to consider since their coaches will decide for them - if they themselves are still in a job after the Finals.

Batistuta made a bright start to the World Cup, heading the winner in Argentina's 1-0 victory over Nigeria in their opening match - his 10th goal overall in the Finals.

Having scored hat-tricks in both the 1994 and 1998 World Cups, 'Batigol' was looking for even more glory, but after failing to score in the 0-1 defeat by England and the 1-1 draw with Sweden, which saw Argentina eliminated in the first round, his World Cup ended as something of an anti-climax.

Still, he finished his international career with a record tally of 56 goals in 78 games and a secure place in football's history books.

A number of other high-profile strikers have also announced their retirement from the international scene.

Sweden's Henrik Larsson, 30, the only squad member to play in both the 1994 and 2002 Finals - it did not qualify in 1998 - announced his retirement after his country's second-round exit at the hands of Senegal.

He had opened the scoring in that match with his third goal of the Finals, but Senegal hit back with a golden-goal winner to beat the Swedes 2-1.

Larsson has scored 24 goals in 72 internationals - but whether he can be persuaded to play again remains to be seen.

Croatia's Davor Suker, 34, slipped out more quietly from the international arena.

The leading scorer in the 1998 Finals with six goals, he was replaced after 64 minutes in Croatia's 0-1 defeat by Mexico in their opening match - and did not play again. He scored 45 goals in 69 games for Croatia - a record likely to stand for some time.

Despite being a defender, Fernando Hierro, with 29 goals in his 89 internationals, is Spain's leading all-time scorer - and the 34-year-old bows out after missing only one of Spain's matches in the last three World Cups.

He scored twice from the penalty spot in this tournament and must have believed he had a chance of leading Spain all the way to the final until it lost to South Korea on penalties in the quarter-finals.

Ireland's Niall Quinn, who will be 36 in October, is another all-time record scorer to retire with 21 goals in 91 appearances.

Although the 1.95-metre striker did not score in the Finals, he had a huge impact as a substitute and Ireland will definitely miss his height and intelligent play in the future.

It will also miss its most capped player of all time - skipper Steve Staunton, 32, who has quit after 102 games. He made his 100th appearance against Germany on June 5 and ends a 14-year international career with seven goals for his country.

The Italian team will never look quite the same again without the film-star good looks of Maldini at left-back.

After a record 126 appearances and seven goals for Italy, he could have beaten Lothar Matthaeus' all-time World Cup record of 25 games if Italy had played seven matches in the Finals.

But it was eliminated 1-2 by South Korea in the second round - which means he is now second on the all-time list behind the German with 23 appearances.

The great irony is that Maldini was outjumped by South Korea's Ahn Jung Hwan for the winning golden goal - a rare mistake from one of the world's best defenders.

Marc Wilmots, Belgium's leading World Cup scorer with five goals - although it would have been six if his goal against Brazil in the second round had not been ruled out wrongly for a non-existent push - has said he is retiring from internationals.

Nigeria's Jay Jay Okocha, who has played in three World Cups; Denmark's Jan Heintze, at 38 and 10 months the oldest player in the Finals; and France's Frank Leboeuf, a member of its 1998 winning team; are also leaving the world stage.

Others, no doubt, will follow shortly.

--Reuters, AFP