Cameroon and West Ham midfielder Alex Song retires from international football

Cameroon and West Ham midfielder Alex Song has retired from international football after his exclusion from his country's Africa Cup of Nations squad.

The Barcelona loanee, 27, will now be available for the Hammers this month after talks with Cameroon about a late call-up broke down.

He said on Instagram: "My love for my country will never change.

"I want to take time to focus purely on domestic football and start to rebuild my career at West Ham United."

Song has not played for his country since being sent off against Croatia in the group stages of the 2014 World Cup.

The Hammers feared they would lose him after he flew back to his homeland to discuss the possibility of appearing in the Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea, which begins on 17 January.

"Since the World Cup in the summer and my subsequent exclusion from the Cameroon squad for the African Cup of Nations I have taken the decision to retire from international football," Song, who won 47 caps, said.

"It is true that there were some discussions of late to include me in the squad for this tournament but I feel after a lot of careful thought and numerous discussions with my family this is the right decision."

Credit: BBC Sport