AC Milan veteran defender Alessandro Nesta has ruled out ending his international exile.

Nesta has seen his former World Cup winning teammate Francesco Totti, the Roma captain, declare himself for South Africa.

But the centre-half says: "If I were to go to the Nazionale - and I want to make it clear nobody has asked - then I'd be taking the place of someone who is already in the squad.

"I wouldn't do it. If someone has played 10 games and fought so hard to achieve qualification, then I turn up at the last minute and steal his spot, it wouldn't be fair.

"I am the one who gave up on the Nazionale, I was not kicked out, I did it for my own issues."

The veteran bowed out of the Azzurri scene when a succession of injuries put him on the verge of retirement altogether.

"At the end of the day, I was right to retire from international football," insisted Nesta. "When everyone said there were no problems, after the World Cup I wrecked my shoulder - nobody knows why - and then my back. It was better to rest."