Hugo Lloris denies retirement talks after World Cup final defeat

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France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has shrugged off retirement rumours after the defeat against Argentina in the World Cup final on Sunday.

A six-goal thriller ultimately went the way of Argentina, with Les Bleus' all-time leading appearance holder unable to save any of the penalties he faced in the shoot-out.

Lloris, 35, is in the France set-up for 15 years now and questions have been raised about whether it is the time to hang his boots in the international stage.

But Lloris says it is not the ideal time to talk about retirements as the player said he feels the pain of the defeat. The French captain batted away retirement theories and believes the result will take time to digest.

"Now is not the time to answer those questions. It's a painful night for all the players, the staff, the management and all the supporters, even if we achieved great things," Lloris said to TF1.

"It has to be an experiment for the future. It will take a little time for everyone to digest it."

Lloris also expressed his belief that the France squad did everything they could to emerge as victors, after their second-half heroics following a passive, lacklustre first-half display.

"We were too reactive. It was almost a boxing match, we surrendered blow for blow. The only regret we can have is that we may have missed our first half," he added.

"Despite that, we didn't give up, we believed in it until the end. It took a winner, it was played on penalties.

"We must congratulate the Argentines who made a great tournament, a great final. The match could have swung either way, but we were too reactive," he concluded.

Lloris was at no fault in the goals that Argentina scored. The French custodian made some decent saves in the game to prevent further damage. He has been a stalwart for France throughout the years and led his country to a World Cup win four years ago in Russia. Lloris, who plays for English Premier League club Totenham, has 145 France appearances, most in the French history.