Look: Tearful Schweinsteiger plays final match for Germany

Bastian Schweinsteiger let the tears flow on Wednesday as Germany's captain made his final appearance for Die Mannschaft in their 2-0 friendly win at home to Finland.

Schalke's Max Meyer and Arsenal's Mesut Ozil scored Germany's second-half goals, but the night belonged to Schweinsteiger, who played the first 66 minutes in Monchengladbach on his 121st - and final - international appearance.

Twelve years since his debut, the 32-year-old announced his retirement at the start of August, but head coach Joachim Low gave the Manchester United midfielder the chance to skipper his country one last time.

Even before kick-off, with German FA (DFB) president Reinhard Grindel heaping praise on the departing captain during a pre-match presentation, Schweinsteiger struggled to hold back the tears.

He gave up, sobbing openly when the 30,121-strong crowd, which just over half-filled Borussia Park stadium, gave him a standing ovation.

"I didn't think that would happen," Schweinsteiger admitted, referring to his tears, when handed a microphone.

"Thank you for coming, it means a lot to me.

"It was a huge honour for me to play for Germany and I just want to say 'thank you' for everything."

This was Schweinsteiger's first match of the season, having been banished to United's reserves by new coach Jose Mourinho earlier this month, and the veteran looked rusty.

The game was briefly halted with an hour gone when a fan, wearing a Germany shirt with 'Schweinsteiger' across the shoulders, ran onto the pitch, took a selfie with the World Cup winner and casually jogged off.

There was another standing ovation, but no tears this time, when Schweinsteiger came off on 66 minutes and embraced Low on the sidelines.

He hugged each member of Germany's bench, including Manuel Neuer, who is tipped to replace him as captain with Low set to announce his new skipper on Thursday.