Danish defender who 'erased' Ronaldo brings down curtain on international career

[p]The 33-year-old defender has spoken about his decision in an interview with Danish media Politiken, where he says that he has thought a lot about the decision recently.[/p][p][b]"And I have always wanted to stop at the right time. For me, it is natural now"[/b], says [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vestergaard-jannik/2mkPasKP/"]Vestergaard[/a].[/p][p]Danish national team coach Brian Riemer believes that the central defender has a strong character and personality. In addition, the national coach highlights Vestergaard's "obvious and stable" qualities on the field.[/p][p][b]The European Championship in 2021, where Denmark reached the semi-finals, is a milestone in Vestergaard's national team career, says Riemer, who also remembers Denmark's victory over Portugal in the Nations League in 2025.[/b][/p][p]Riemer points out that Vestergaard marked superstar [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ronaldo-cristiano/WGOY4FSt/"]Cristiano Ronaldo[/a] out of the game in the 1-0 victory at Parken in the Nations League.[/p][p][b]He "erased" Ronaldo that day, believes Riemer.[/b][/p][embed guid="eafacb63-2aa4-4fa7-8c00-d95634e4b164" url="https://x.com/larshendel/status/1976551972787683345" social-type="twitter" /][p]Vestergaard was ruled out following a groin operation in Denmark's two playoff matches to qualify for this summer's World Cup earlier in March.[/p][p]Denmark lost the decisive match away to the Czech Republic, and thus Vestergaard has chosen to pull the plug with two years until the EURO 2028.[/p][p][b]He does not see himself as part of the project that has been started with several new and young players, he tells Politiken.[/b][/p][p]In the autumn, Vestergaard was part of the two disappointing World Cup qualifiers against Belarus and Scotland, where Denmark could have secured a ticket to the World Cup finals.[/p][p][b]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/leicester/KrrdAMyI/"]Leicester[/a] defender says the time in the national team was the greatest and most important honor in his career and in his life since his debut in 2013. [/b][/p][p]Vestergaard, who has played for Leicester since 2021, reached 59 matches in the national team jersey for Denmark.[/p]