Monteiro joins Portugal exit

Experienced Portugal defender Miguel Monteiro on Wednesday announced his retirement from international football, becoming the fourth senior player to quit the troubled squad recently.

The 30-year-old Monteiro, who plays at Valencia in Spain, won 59 caps for Portugal, but joins the likes of Deco, Simao Sabrosa and Paulo Ferreira in calling it quits.

Monteiro’s decision comes just a day after Paulo Bento was named new national coach.

Bento takes over a team which has made a poor start to their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, drawing 4-4 with Cyprus and losing 1-0 to Norway to leave them in fourth place in Group H.

They face Denmark and Iceland in October.