Aston Villa captain Stilian Petrov has vowed to continue playing for Bulgaria despite their failure to qualify for UEFA EURO 2012.

Petrov, who clocked up cap number 104 against Switzerland last night, said: "People were saying that when I broke the appearance record I would retire - but I won't do it. I'll keep going as long as I can.

"It's really hard to see people writing you off and saying when I break the record I will retire because I won't have any more drive to play for my country.

"That's a lot of nonsense. I'll keep playing for my country the way I played in my first game right through to my last game."