Striker Eduardo quits Croatia team

Croatia striker Eduardo da Silva has announced his retirement from international football after concluding that he was being "deprived of a fair and honest treatment."

The Brazil-born former Arsenal player is the country's second-highest goalscorer, with 29, behind Davor Suker.

However, he played only 21 minutes as a substitute at the World Cup, in which Croatia failed to make it past the group stage, finishing third in Group A behind Mexico and hosts Brazil.

In honour of his dual nationality, he sang both the Croatian and Brazilian anthems before the start of the tournament's opening game.

Eduardo, 31, hit out at the Croatia setup in a statement reported by Yahoo! Sports, saying: "I inform the Croatian Football Federation that I don't intend to play for the team in which I played 64 times since the first appearance in 2004.

"During the past few years for me, there were several very hard moments... which are consequences of activities of people who are formally not part of the squad but have a big influence on its work and officials."

It is thought that was a reference to the most powerful man in Croatian football, Zdravko Mamic.

Dinamo Zagreb executive president Mamic was Eduardo's former manager, and the player had undertaken legal proceedings over his contract.

Croatia coach Niko Kovac said he "highly appreciated" Eduardo's qualities but would respect his decision to no longer represent the national side.

The player is currently on the verge of moving to Brazilian club Flamenco.