Tahnai Annis (6) of the Philippines during their match against Vietnam for the ASEAN Football Federation Championship held at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in Manila on July 15, 2022. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA -- Veteran player Tahnai Annis, the longtime captain of the Philippine women's national football team, has retired from football.

Annis, 35, announced her decision on the Futbol Brew podcast on Sunday.

"It's a big announcement for me," said Annis, who was born in the United States but traces her roots to the city of Lucena through her mother.

"It's something that over the past months, I knew was going to need to be a conversation. But I'm happy to be on this side of it and kind of coming to that on my own terms and getting to share a little bit about what that looks like and how that's been for me into coming to make this decision," she added.

"I think my body, my mind and kind of, my spirit has just come to a point where it's all in alignment that it's time for me to step away," Annis explained.

Annis joined the Philippine women's football program in 2018 and has helped the national team reach unprecedented heights in recent years.

She captained the team that qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 and lifted the 2022 AFF Women's Championship on home soil in Manila.

She retires having won 43 caps and scored 14 goals for the Filipinas.

Annis was last called up to the Philippines in April 2024, for a pair of friendlies against South Korea.