5 Legends who retired from football in 2016
Every year, the world of football loses some of its gems. Some fantastic careers come to an end, and it is only fair that those careers are celebrated as they should be. 2016 was no different as some illustrious names called time on their glorious careers.
Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lionel Messi (at least temporarily) called time on their careers for their respective national teams, but they are still active in club football. Messi has shown no sign of slowing down and is even back playing or Argentina.
But there were a few others who brought the curtains down on their careers and we will take a look at five such footballers who made the game richer.
#1 Steven Gerrard
One of Liverpool’s greatest ever players, Gerrard quit football after his Los Angeles Galaxy lost to the Colorado Rapids in the semi-final of the MLS playoff. He returned to Liverpool and is expected to take up a coaching role within the club’s academy very soon.
Gerrard made 710 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 186 goals in his stint with the club, from 1998 to 2015. But what Gerrard did for Liverpool cannot be quantified by any statistics, any numbers. He was, well and truly, ‘ Mr. Liverpool’.
The number of times when Gerrard has single-handedly taken games by the scruff of the neck and dragged Liverpool back into those contests is the stuff of legends. There aren’t too many people who have an FA Cup final named after them; Steven Gerrard is one of them.
In 2006, he struck two beauties to help Liverpool draw level with West Ham – the second one, an absolute stunner for 35 yards out, as the game just headed into extra time.
But arguably the best moment of Gerrard’s Liverpool career happened a year before that. In Istanbul in 2005, in a Champions League final, Liverpool were 3-0 down at half-time against AC Milan. Gerrard scored nine minutes after the restart and won the penalty for Xabi Alonso to sore the equaliser.
The sight of Gerrard being a brilliant emergency right-back throughout the extra-time period will remain with Liverpool fans for a very long time.
Most things Steven Gerrard did on the pitch will remain with Liverpool fans for a very long time. After all, he was one of them, one of their own. Only, he was also the greatest footballer the club has ever had.