Re: Official Retirement Appreciation Thread

by Forza Wed Jan 15, 2014 4:08 am

Seedorf's retirement has been overlooked in the wake of his coaching appointment at Milan.

4 CLs with 3 teams. BOSS. :bow:

by M99 Wed Jan 15, 2014 4:50 am

Forza wrote:Seedorf's retirement has been overlooked in the wake of his coaching appointment at Milan.

4 CLs with 3 teams. BOSS.

One of my favourite midfielders of all time. What a legend :bow:

by Onyx Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:38 am

Former Blackburn player Brett Emerton retires.

by Red Alert Thu Jan 30, 2014 7:53 am

Juninho has retired. Sad

One of arguably the best dead ball specialists the game has seen.

by Lex Thu Jan 30, 2014 8:05 am

Aww shucks Sad

this one I actually care about lol Sad

by BarcaLearning Fri Jan 31, 2014 1:06 am

Kinda sad seeing all these players retire....I guess need to get used to it, these things come with age Razz

Luis Garcia I really liked at Liverpool, exciting unqiue type of player, I remember his 4 goals vs I forgot which team....

Seedorf was one of the favourites for a while, gl at Milan management.

by McAgger Fri Jan 31, 2014 1:09 am

Juninho

Very sad day indeed. He's in the Hall of Fame for his set piece ability alone.

by Red Alert Sun Feb 02, 2014 6:46 am

From Lyon's website. Proud

The Brazilian celebrated his 29th birthday on January 30 and announced the end of his playing career…

On such an important day for Il Maestro, the memories come flooding back. We want to send him all our best wishes, our respect and our friendship. The images flow, right up until that 100th and final goal, and those final seconds at the Stade de Gerland, overcome by emotion. Laughter, inspiration and tears of joy... so much joy that he delivered! Merci Juni. He was the centre piece amongst all the stars of various OL teams. Unique and he remains the greatest player in the history of the club.

Juninho wrote history with OL during his eight seasons at the club, punctuated by 7 championship titles, 1 Coupe de France, 6 Trophées des Champions. His 100 goals (64 at Gerland and 36 away). He sits fourth in the history of goal scorers at the club, behind Di Nallo, Lacombe, Chiesa. 75 goals in Ligue 1, 18 in the Champions League, 7 in the Coupe de France. First and foremost his amazing free-kicks; those he scored himself and those that enabled others to score: 44 direct free-kicks (29 at Gerland and 15 away) including 10 in the Champions League, 3 in the Coupe de France and 28 in Ligue 1.

44 Free-kicks

- 2001-2002: 1 v Sochaux (Fernandez)
- 2002-2003: 5 v Sedan (Regnault), Lens (Warmuz), Auxerre x 2 (Cool), Rennes (Durand).
- 2003-2004: 5 v Lens (Itandje), Nice (Grégorini), Bastia (Penneteau), Metz (Butelle), Bayern (Kahn).
- 2004-2005: 8 v ASSE (Janot), Ajaccio (Porato), Metz (Wimbée), Toulouse x 2 (Revault), Istres (Weber), Viry (Mérigot), Werder (Reinke). 75 free-kicks taken.
- 2005-2006: 8 v Ajaccio x 2 (Porato), Nantes (Heurtebis), Real (Casillas), Olympiakos x 2 (Nikopolidis and Giannou), Eindhoven (Gomes), Le Mans (Roche). 78 free-kicks taken.
- 2006-2007: 5 v Troyes (Le Crom), Bayonne (Bouet), Kiev (Lutsenko), Marseille (Carasso), Lens (Itandje). 112 free-kicks taken.
- 2007-2008: 5 v Toulouse (Douchez), Sedan (Regnault), Strasbourg (Cassard), Barcelone (Valdez), Metz (Marichez). free-kicks taken.
- 2008-2009: 7 v Nice (Letizi x 2), Steaua (Zapatta), ASSE (Janot), Le Havre (Revault), Barcelone (Valdez), Marseille (Mandanda). 79 free-kicks taken.

The Penalties

14 penalties: 11 at Gerland and 3 away. 3 in the Champions League (Barcelona, Celtic, Anderlecht).

The rest

•5 left-foot: 2003-2004 Real Sociedad, Bourg Peronas; 2004-2005 St-Etienne; 2005-2006 Metz; 2007-2008 Créteil.
•4 headers: 2002-2003 Sochaux ; 2006-2007 PSG ; 2007-2008 Valenciennes and OM.
•91 right-footed.
•By 15 minutes: 13, 14, 20, 17, 14, 22
•Goals scored and his influence: 725 scored – 191 = 534 while he was on the pitch; 100 scored and 117 assists. 217 out of 534 = 40.6%!
•He played 344 matches and 27,000 minutes. 100 goals divided into seasons: 5, 13, 17, 16, 14, 12, 13, 10.
•53 yellow cards; 4 red cards (2 in the Champions League).
•111 matches, out of 344 joués (32.2%), in which he directly influenced a positive outcome (not counting assists and goals scored once victory was assured).
•His debut? Away to Lens in Ligue 1, July 28 2001 (2-0 loss).
•His first goal? Away to Bastia, August 12 2001.
•His first goal at the Gerland? September 29 2001 against Rennes (a double including a penalty in a 4-2 win).
•His first goal in the Champions League? September 17 2003, OL 1-0 Anderlecht (penalty).

Juni also played for Sport Recif, Vasco Gama, Al Gharafa, Red Bulls and the Brazil national team (43 matches and 7 goals). In total, more than 900 matches and 220 goals. As well as his trophies with OL, he won two Brazilian championships, 1 Copa Libertadores, 1 Copa Mercosur, 1 Confederations Cup as well as titles in Qatar.

At 39 years of age and after 20 seasons as a professional, he has brought the curtain down on an immense career. Happy Birthday Juni!

http://www.olweb.fr/en/article/unforgettable-juninho-64579.html

(They stuffed up the 29th bday in the first line. Razz

)

by Onyx Sun Feb 02, 2014 10:01 am

Juninho.

by McAgger Sun Feb 02, 2014 10:34 am

Kolo Toure :coffee:

by Red Alert Sun Feb 02, 2014 10:38 am

McAgger wrote:We need to extend his contract. Screw the two year deal, I want him at Anfield for the next 4/5 years.

by McAgger Sun Feb 02, 2014 11:26 am

by rwo power Sun Feb 16, 2014 7:17 pm

Legendary St.Pauli captain Fabian Boll will retire this summer due to constant injuries. He has been playing for St.Pauli since 2002.

http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/st-pauli-urgestein-fabian-boll-beendet-fussball-karriere-im-sommer/news/anzeigen_149650.html

by VivaStPauli Mon Feb 17, 2014 12:35 am

12 years in the brown. Bloody club legend. Will really miss him.
But I guess he'll return to his day job, then. Still is a proper Bullenschwein, that guy. Though obviously him being the Bollster he is our beloved Wachtmeister.

I don't even know what to print on my next kit I buy, now.

by Onyx Thu Mar 06, 2014 2:01 pm

Real Madrid legend Raul has announced that he is set to retire from playing football at the end of the season, according to El Confidencial.

The 36-year-old, now at Qatari side Al-Sadd, will end his career after completing his second season with the Middle East outfit.

Club officials had hoped they could persuade the ex-Madridista to remain in Qatar for one more season but the former Roja international has made his decision.

It is now said that he wants to pursue a career in coaching.

by rwo power Thu Mar 06, 2014 3:18 pm

Sad news. Raúl :bow:

by Le Samourai Thu Mar 06, 2014 4:09 pm

I was too young to see him at his peak, or, at least, to understand what I was seeing. But certain games still stick out in my mind, against Barcelona in the Champions League, against United in the Champions League. giving us hope when the season looked done against Espanyol. These are all memories I cherish, yet I missed out on so many.

Even so, even after the injuries and losing all he did physically, the man was still an inspiration on the field. He could single handedly lift the team, not just by playing like a star, but by acting like a soldier. He and Zidane are the first two guys I can even remember just liking, can't even remember why, I suppose just because they played for Madrid. But still to this day, they're the two guys I respect most, two of a very small group of players who treat the responsibility entrusted to them by their teams with the character and grace it deserves.

When he left I was angry, when Ronaldo and not Higuain took his number, even moreso. Since then I realized it was probably for the best. Watching him flourish at Schalke gave every Madrid fan joy and we owe an immense debt to them for allowing him to go out on a high.

Maybe it's a pipe dream, but, I look forward to him and Zidane bringing some of that class back to use in the future.

Grande Raul - Siempre en mi Corazon.

by Red Alert Thu Mar 06, 2014 8:41 pm

Raul.

by M99 Fri Mar 07, 2014 1:48 am

Raul

by Red Alert Sat Mar 15, 2014 10:23 am

Rivaldo has finally decided to hang up his boots. What a player he was ffs.

by Great Leader Sprucenuce Sat Mar 15, 2014 10:26 am

Has he really? or will he actually just play for some team in Uzbekistan lol?

Anyway in his prime he was ridiculous, only problem was like Ronaldinho his prime didn't last all that long.

I think i still have the Rivaldo shirt i got when i went to watch a Barca game when i was 9 or 10 lol....

by Art Morte Sat Mar 15, 2014 10:27 am

Rivaldo

He's actually one of the earliest players I remember watching live in my teens when I wasn't that serious about following football yet. His skill and cool name carved him into my memory, though Proud

Who is the closest Brasilian to his style nowadays? hmm

by Onyx Sat Mar 15, 2014 10:28 am

He made 1 appearance for his last club apparently.

by M99 Sat Mar 15, 2014 10:30 am

I think it was against Valencia, a ridiculous overhead kick goal, man I became his #1 fan after seeing that goal.

He was amazing at the 2002 World Cup.

by The Franchise Sat Mar 15, 2014 10:31 am

Art Morte wrote:
Who is the closest Brasilian to his style nowadays?

Nobody.

Not even close.

by The Franchise Sat Mar 15, 2014 10:32 am

M99 wrote:I think it was against Valencia, a ridiculous overhead kick goal, man I became his #1 fan after seeing that goal.

He was amazing at the 2002 World Cup.

I think that moment must be one of Barca's fans greatest memory.

It was in the last minute of the game and without that goal, Barca fail to qualify for the CL.

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