MELBOURNE Victory midfielder Kevin Muscat has announced his international retirement after he was left out of the Australia squad for the World Cup qualifier against Qatar.

The 34-year-old former Rangers player was keen to add to his 51 caps for the Socceroos, but coach Pim Verbeek decided not to include him in the 18-man squad for Wednesday's game, which Australia won 3-0.

"I'm calling it a day," Muscat said in the Herald Sun. "I'm not going to put myself through it all again.

"I got called up (to the training squad) and I had a crack at it for one game and I didn't make it.

"I really wanted to play one more game with John Aloisi and Craig Moore, but it's not going to happen. That's life.

"I'm disappointed, gutted. I thought I had a realistic chance of playing one last game in Melbourne. But I'm not going to moan about it.

"Pim showed me the respect of sitting down and talking to me face-to-face and I appreciate that. I've got no complaints."

Muscat joined Crystal Palace in 1996 before moving to Wolves a year later and spent five years with the Midlands side before joining Rangers in 2002.