Do you know which soccer players retired in 2018? Find out here

Several soccer players decided to end their professional career and some others withdrew from their national team

2018 was full of great soccer events, as well as sad farewells of excellent and historic soccer players, leaving a great emptiness in the hearts of many fans. In LatinAmerican Post we remember which players said goodbye to soccer definitively and which others decided to finish only their participation in their National Team.

Leer en español: Descubre los futbolistas que se retiraron en 2018

Definitive retirement

Ronaldinho

The 'smile of the soccer' decided to retire definitively in January of this year at 37 years old, although he did not play an official match since 2015. According to Marca, the most important titles that he gained during his career were: a World Cup (2002 ) and a Copa América (1999) with the Brazil National Team; one Champions (2006), two Leagues (2005 and 2006) and 2 Supercups of Spain (2005 and 2006) with Barcelona; and one Serie A (2011) with Milan.

Didier Drogba

One of the best African soccer players in history ended his career in November of this year at 40 years old. According to TyC Sports, the powerful Ivorian forward won four league titles with Chelsea: three League Cups, two Cups, Super Cups (Community Shield) and the Champions League (2012). With Galatasaray he won a Turkish League, a Cup, and a Super Cup. In addition, he will always be remembered as the soccer player who put an end to the civil war in his country with a soccer match.

Rafael Márquez

The Mexican defender, 39 years old, retired in one of the scenarios in which he made history: the World Cup. According to Infobae, the 'Kaiser' managed to become the only player to play five World Cups as captain. Between his victories stand out: two Champions (2006 and 2009), a Supercup of Europe (2009) and a Club World (2009) with Barcelona; and two Gold Cup (2003 and 2011) and one Confederations Cup (1999) with the Mexican National Team.

These were not the only farewells that cause great sadness, because, according to Goal, among the players who put an end to their splendid careers in 2018 are also: the Brazilians Julio César, Cicinho and Thiago Motta; the Argentines Pablo Aimar, Nicolás Burdisso, Leandro Desábato and Leandro Romagnoli; Englishmen John Terry, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Ryan Mason; and the German Per Mertesacker.

The Italian Antonio Cassano, the Russian Andréi Arshavin, the Dutchman Rafael van der Vaart, the Americans Jermaine Jones and Clint Dempsey; the Spaniards Albert Riera, Víctor Valdés, Fernando Navarro, Xabi Prieto, Roberto Trashorras and Imanol Agirretxe; the Mexican Omar Bravo, the Colombian Camilo Zúñiga, the Paraguayan Justo Villar, the Peruvian Johan Fano, the Swede Johan Elmander, the Panamanian Felipe Baloy and the South African Steven Pienaar also decided to end their career after several years of activity.

You can also read: These 3 teams have suffered 'punishments from beyond'

Withdrawal of the National Team

Andres Iniesta

With 34 years old, the Spanish midfielder withdrew from his National Team after the World Cup in Russia, leaving a record of 136 matches played for 'La Roja'. According to Mundo Deportivo, the genius achieved with Spain two Euro Cups (2008 and 2012) and a World Cup (2010), in which he was the great hero when scoring the winning goal in the final against the Netherlands.

Gianluigi Buffon

The great Italian goalkeeper and captain said goodbye to the 'azzurri' in May 2018, with 40 years old, leaving a huge legacy worldwide. According to El Tiempo, the goalkeeper was present in 176 matches with his team, winning the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Javier Mascherano

The 'Jefecito' said goodbye to the Argentina National Team after the 2018 World Cup, and he did it as the soccer player who played the most matches with the blue and white: 147. According to La Nación, Mascherano, 34, won two medals Olympic Games with Argentina. The first was in Athens 2004 and the second in Beijing 2008.

In the same way, according to Depor, these players also decided to finish their participation in their National Team: the Germans Mesut Özil and Mario Gómez; Englishmen Wayne Rooney, Gary Cahill and Jamie Vardy; the Spaniards David Silva and Gerard Piqué; the Dutch Wesley Sneijder, the Argentine Lucas Biglia and the Croatians Danijel Subašić, Mario Mandžukić and Vedran Ćorluka.

Likewise, according to the newspaper AS, the Belgian Radja Nainggolan, the Polish Lukasz Piszczek, the Australian Tim Cahill, the French Laurent Koscielny and Adil Rami, the Japanese Keisuke Honda and Makoto Hasebe, the Panamanians Gabriel Gómez, Jaime Penedo, Blas Pérez and Luis Tejada, the Mexican Oribe Peralta and the Egyptian Essam El Hadary also ended their career in their respective teams.

2018 has left us a large number of sad farewells, which could increase in December. However, the nostalgia will not be so painful, because each and every one of the soccer players who announced their retirement will remain connected to soccer in one way or another.

LatinAmerican Post | Javier Aldana

Translated from "Descubre quiénes son los futbolistas que se retiraron en 2018"

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