MADRID, 21 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The French player Frank Ribéry, currently in the Italian Salernitana, announced this Friday his retirement from professional football, at the age of 39 and after a long and successful career of more than 20 years, also motivated by a knee injury, as announced the soccer player in social networks.
“The ball stops. The feelings inside me don’t. Thank you all for this adventure,” shared the French winger, along with an emotional video that reviewed his most outstanding moments since he made his professional debut in August 2001 with the hometown club.
Ribéry also wanted to thank the support received by his fans throughout his career, to get to play at the “highest level”. However, “despite having been struggling for the past three months”, his knee pain has only “worsened”, with doctors warning him “there was no other way but professional retirement”.
“It’s the end of a beautiful chapter in my life, but it’s time to thank all of you, without whom I wouldn’t be who I am now,” added the footballer, referring to his family, coaches and other colleagues.
The Frenchman played for nine clubs – US Boulogne, Olympique d’Alés, Stade Brest, Metz, Galatasaray, Marseille, Bayern, Fiorentina and Salernitana – in his 22-year career. His most successful experience was enjoyed in Munich, with 12 seasons in the ranks of the Bavarian club, in which he played a total of 425 games, scoring 124 goals.
The fruitful stage in Germany resulted in the Champions League, the European Super Cup, the Club World Cup, nine Bundesligas, six Cups and five German Super Cups. After this, he headed to Serie A, signing for Fiorentina in 2019, where he completed two seasons, reaching 51 games and scoring five goals. He did not abandon Italian football, and in the summer of 2021 he signed for the modest Salernitana, already with less prominence, heavily burdened by his knee injury.
With the French national team, from which he retired in 2014, he added 81 caps, with 16 goals and 20 assists. His greatest achievement with the ‘Bleu’ came in 2006, when he reached the World Cup final which he lost to Italy. He has participated in two World Cups (2006 and 2010) and two European Championships (2008 and 2012).