While some, most famously France's Zinedine Zidane, said the 2006 World Cup would be their final international tournament, soccer's other aging superstars are also using the end of the tournament to announce their retirements.

Germany goalkeeper Oliver Kahn added his name to the list of players hanging up national team jerseys after his country won the World Cup's third-place match against Portugal.

"It was my last international match today and I could not have wished for a better final game for my country," Kahn said. "It was a great time, but you have to know when it is time to stop."

Some players retiring for a second time

Zidane solidified his hold on the "national legend" title with two goals in the 1998 World Cup final and earned the eternal gratitude of la grand nation by returning to duty in 2006.

"Zizou" started slowly but proved his caliber in Germany's knock-out rounds. A virtuoso performance saw off Brazil and he kept his nerve to score the penalty winner against Portugal in the semi-final. With a trophy case holding all the sport has to offer, the most popular man in France heads off into retirement as the most admired player in soccer.

Zidane's Portuguese contemporary and former Real Madrid teammate Luis Figo also closed the curtain on his international career after being convinced to return to the team by coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. The Brazilian coach also had to watch as Figo's teammate Pauleta called it quits.

"This is the saddest day of my career," Pauleta told reporters after losing to Germany. "Playing for this team, scoring for this team was what I most loved doing but my time has come."

Little potential at top teams

While finding players who love the game isn't difficult at a tournament like the World Cup, finding proteges with the potential to top their masters on the world's most competitive teams is a harder task.

FIFA tried to make the job easier with its Best Young Player award, which was given to Germany's Lukas Podolski, but only a handful of players came for teams with realistic chances at advancing through the tournament's knock-out stages.

Two years ago Podolski moved up from the U-19 team to Germany's professional league with FC Köln. Now the 21-year-old has FIFA's award for the Best Young Player to start his trophy collection.

"The World Cup has obviously been one of my career highlights to date," he told fifaworldcup.com. "I have since managed to get some international experience playing for Germany, and being at a tournament like this is obviously wonderful."

Standout players hard to find, regardless of age

Podolski nabbed the FIFA trophy from fellow 21-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo. The creative Portuguese wonder mesmerized fans and confounded defenders with his speed and dribbling skills and is not without the fiery temperament of many great players.

He earned the public's scorn in matches against France and Germany for trying to get English striker and Manchester United teammate, Wayne Rooney, ejected from a quarter-final match and winking at the Portuguese bench when the Englishman was sent off.

Ronaldo, who has since said he hopes to leave ManU for more experience with Real Madrid, home to some of the world's best players, would end up converting the decisive spot kick in the penalty shoot-out that ended the game, and England's campaign.

It's the overall quality of play among all the men on the field that could bring a dearth of stars to international soccer after the older ones retire.

"I have been on the panel to help pick out the best ten players at the tournament," said German soccer legend and World Cup Organizing Committee president Franz Beckenbauer. "We could have picked a completely different ten. There were no stand-out players."