AS Roma captain Francesco Totti said Monday that July's World Cup final in Berlin may have been his last game for Italy.
"I don't know if I'll return to the national team," said Totti, who is widely regarded as the Azzurri's best footballer.
The playmaker-striker announced that he was taking a break from international action after the World Cup, when fitness problems prevented him from living up to his billing as one of the game's top stars.
He said that he would only return to the Azzurri squad when the metal plates inserted into his left leg to heal a broken calf bone - the cause of the fitness problems - had been removed.
This was thought to mean the start of the 2007-2008 season.
But now it looks like he may have retired from international soccer altogether.
Totti denied that these doubts may be down to friction with Azzurri coach Roberto Donadoni, who was reportedly miffed by his decision to take a sabbatical.
"There are no problems between me and Donadoni, everything is clear between us," he said.
"We'll talk about this again at the end of the season. At the moment I'm only thinking about Roma".
Totti has fully recovered from the broken leg - sustained in a league match last February - and is in sparkling form for his club, who are Inter Milan's only real championship rivals this season.
The 30-year-old currently leads the Serie A top-scorer standings with 12 goals.
Many fans believe Totti is keen on keeping his workload light in order to spend as much time as possible with his family.
Totti is married to model and TV presenter Ilary Blasi, who is pregnant with the couple's second child. They already have a one-year-old boy, Cristian.
The news cast a shadow over Monday's ceremony laid on for the Azzurri World Cup-winning squad by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and attended by FIFA President Sepp Blatter.
Totti has 58 Azzurri caps and has scored nine international goals.
