Greece keeper Antonis Nikopolidis and defender Paraskevas Antzas announced on Sunday they would retire from international football after Wednesday's final Euro 2008 Group D game against Spain. Nikopolidis, 37, who was a member of the victorious Euro 2004 team and has won 89 caps, and 31-year-old Antzas, who has 25 caps, said it was time for younger players to come into the squad. “For me the match on Wednesday will be the last match,” Nikopolidis said. “We lived through a great time and bad times but the important thing is we always were a family.” Greece is already eliminated from the tournament after Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Russia, which followed an opening 2-0 loss to Sweden. Nikopolidis urged younger players coming into the squad not to feel burdened by the team's success four years ago and hoped his retirement would not trigger similar decisions by others. “I don't think my withdrawal from the national team should start a wave of departures,” he said, seconds before Antzas also announced his retirement. “Also, I believe the young players must not carry the burden of the 2004 success.” While Nikopolidis' decision was largely expected after a mediocre qualification, peppered with mistakes by the experienced keeper and a blunder that led to Russia's winning goal on Saturday, Antzas' retirement came as a shock. “I have also decided to stop and would like to thank the coach and the staff for all their help throughout the years,” the Olympiakos Piraeus defender told reporters. Nikopolidis won his first cap in August 1999 when Greece played El Salvador in a friendly. Antzas made his debut in a friendly in February of that year against Belgium. – AP __
