This tournament, as with every ­other, is going to be the last that we see some players on the international stage.

It's often a teary-eyed experience for both the departing player and the fans that have been so entertained over the years.

It's likely that we have already said adios to Xavi and ciao to ­Andrea Pirlo, although no official word has come from either player so far.

Both of these players can look back on their performances at this level and reflect that things don't get much better than this.

Xavi's arrival as the fulcrum for Spain's pathological passing side that won the last World Cup changed the soccer landscape for the better part of a decade, while Pirlo was the metronome for an Italy team that lifted the previous trophy.

Not everyone who we will say goodbye to this year will be able to remember the FIFA World Cup quite so fondly.

England supporters certainly won't be watching Frank Lampard in Russia and they might realistically not get to see Steven Gerrard, Leighton Baines or Wayne Rooney depending on how the next four years go. Not one of those ­players mentioned can reminisce with too much pride, and England's astonishingly early exit is perhaps the most fitting tribute to what this ­so-called golden generation failed to achieve.

Nigeria's second-round exit to France on Monday might force ­veteran defender Joseph Yobo to call time on his international ­career. As the ball skidded off the former ­Everton man and into the net to secure Les Bleus a berth in the quarterfinals it all seemed to get a little too much for him.

Yobo said afterward that he would consider his future but it's a shame to think that his last action for the Super Eagles ended in him looking like he wanted the ground to swallow him up as he sank to the Brasilia pitch.

Of the players left in the tournament, disappointment beckons for all but 23 of them.

Many can look toward the next World Cup with hope if not ­expectation.

For others, this is it and they know it. There will be a lot of ­players leaving everything out there, as the saying goes.

Arjen Robben may be 30 but he is playing like a much younger man with a point to prove. If he keeps this form up then both he and Robin van Persie might sign off from what will inevitably be their last shot at World Cup glory as champions.

That would make their farewell a very welcome one indeed.