6 iconic footballers who announced their retirement in 2016/17
Every year, the end of May is the hardest time for any football fan. Not only do the fans have to slowly come to terms with the lack of club football action for a few weeks, they also need to deal with the emotional roller coaster ride that the end of a season brings.
Some fans are left elated at the end of the season due to their favourite club’s fantastic performance while others are left to rue the way their team performed. Irrespective of all this, every year, a lot of respected players and managers bid farewell to the game or to a particular club and these are difficult times for football fans.
This season, Chelsea fans will bid an emotional farewell to their talisman John Terry but the Englishman will continue to play football elsewhere. However, many other iconic footballers will hang up their boots at the end of the season or already have during the course of the season. Here are six iconic footballers who we will not be watching as a player after this season.
Philipp Lahm
A FIFA World Cup winning captain with Germany and a treble winning captain with Bayern Munich should speak volumes about the man Pep Guardiola once described as one of the most intelligent players he has coached.
Philipp Lahm is one of the finest players to have come through Bayern Munich’s academy. He made his debut for the Bavarian club in 2002 but it was only after his two-year loan spell with VfB Stuttgart that he became a regular for Bayern Munich.
He captained both club and country during his career and remained a crucial player for both teams throughout. Lahm was famous for being a tactically brilliant and versatile player who hardly ever committed a foul.
Aged 33, one can question if Lahm still has it in him to play a couple of years more, but he has earned this retirement. After all, he has the 5th highest number of caps for Germany and the 7th highest number of appearances for Bayern Munich.
Lahm can look back at his career and be proud of what he has achieved. A FIFA World Cup, a UEFA Champions League title and 8 Bundesliga titles among several other team and individual honours is no mean feat.