France captain Marcel Desailly believes his former international team mate Emmanuel Petit should not have ended his international career so early.

"I'm disappointed," told Desailly a press conference on Tuesday before France's Euro 2004 Group One qualifier against Slovenia."There are some elements that did not please him."

Petit, 32, announced on Monday that he would not play again for France, blaming coach Jacques Santini for a "lack of frankness".

Since Santini took over from Roger Lemerre last year following the team's disappointing World Cup campaign, Petit has only been considered as a replacement for Patrick Vieira or Claude Makelele.

He missed this year's Confederations Cup after undergoing surgery on a recurrent groin injury and Santini brought young midfielders Olivier Dacourt and Benoit Pedretti into his squad.

Desailly believes Petit, his team mate at English premier league club Chelsea, could still play at the highest level.

"He is still among the top three or four defensive midfielders of the French team," said Desailly. "Probably he was sapped by his situation. So he preferred to draw a line under it."

Petit, who won 63 caps for Les Bleus, played his last game for France in their 2-0 defeat by the Czech Republic at the Stade de France in February.

"I knew he was not feeling well about the French team," Desailly explained. "He is a competitor, I did not expect him to give up like this."

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