Manchester United and Wales winger Ryan Giggs is to retire from international football after Saturday's Euro 2008 qualifier against the Czech Republic, the Football Association of Wales (FAW) said on Wednesday.

Giggs is to announce his retirement at a news conference near Cardiff later on Wednesday.

Assuming he plays on Saturday, the 33-year-old Wales captain will sign off from Cardiff's Millennium Stadium with 64 caps, 16 years after his winning his first as a 17-year-old -- at the time making him Wales's youngest international.

"The FAW would like to place on record their gratitude for the 16 years of service that Ryan has give to his country in 64 internationals," the FAW said on its web site.

"In that time he has upheld the highest principals of fair play during an exemplary career for Wales."

Giggs has spent his entire international career as part of a Wales teams who have consistently failed to qualify for a major tournament, though they came close when they lost to Russia in a playoff for the 2004 European Championship. Their last appearance was the 1958 World Cup.

He therefore joins the likes of compatriots Ian Rush and former United team mate Mark Hughes and Northern Ireland's George Best who were never able to perform on the main stage.

Although the talented winger has been one of his country's few world class players, his relationship with the national team has been far from harmonious. 

Under the influence of United manager Alex Ferguson, it became the norm for him to miss friendlies, often with a slight strain that healed quickly enough for him to play for United a few days later.

His first appearance in a friendly came nine years after his debut while, apart from an unofficial game against a Basque XI, the only "away" friendly he has every appeared in was against Brazil last September - in London.

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