Craig Bellamy believes it is the right time for him to step down from Wales duty and suggested he could retire from all forms of the game at the end of the current season.
The 34-year-old won his 75th cap for his country in Friday's disappointing 2-1 defeat in Macedonia and is set to win just three more after stating he would stand down when the current World Cup qualifying campaign ends in Belgium next month.
Despite a frustrating Group A effort which has yielded just two wins, both against Scotland, from seven games, Bellamy believes the future is bright for Wales with talents of the calibre of Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Jonathan Williams to call on.
But the Cardiff and former Celtic forward, while not completely ruling out a change of heart, is not tempted to prolong his Dragons career for one more campaign as he wants to spend more time with his children.
He also revealed he may step down from all football when his current contract ends following the culmination of his club's maiden Premier League campaign.
When asked if he could yet continue playing for Wales, Bellamy said: "I don't think that's going to be possible. I know I said I would not retire from international football and I really want this group to succeed.
"But it's a two-year period to qualify and if I start (the campaign) then step aside, it is robbing someone else of two or four matches, of vital experience, and they would miss out as well.
"That's the way I'm looking at it. I honestly think Wales have a great chance of doing something but I've thought about it really hard.
"It's difficult. I'm a single parent now and I'm having such a battle to see my kids on a daily basis. It's so hard.
"Then, being away for 10 days, I'm not the only dad who has to go through it, but if you have experienced it, then you would understand."
He added: "My mood does change...I know I could change what I'm thinking.
"But the way I'm feeling now, it could be my last season in football.
"I have so much to look forward to after football. Life isn't just about football. The adventure starts when you finish and I'm looking forward to that.
"I've been playing at a professional level for 17, 18 years now and there's more to life. I love the game, don't get me wrong, I've cherished every moment of it."
But Bellamy would welcome the chance to go into management once he hangs up his boots for good.
He said: "I've got my A licence already, then I'm doing my pro-licence.
"After that, I'm going to travel around the world - Spain, Argentina - and learn my craft. I don't just want to go in and mess about. When I go in, I'm going to be prepared and I'm going to stay in."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article