Football legends retired this year

Every year football fans bid farewell to the legends who had great performances, made history with the clubs they played for and solidified their place in football history. This year, several great players have retired.

5- Dirk Kuyt

Dirk Kuyt is one of the best strikers in the history of Dutch football. He started his career as a professional footballer when he was 18 years old with Utrecht in 1998. Kuyt played there for five years before joining Feyenoord in 2003, where he had three amazing seasons.

He moved to play for Liverpool in 2006 to 2012, then transferred to turkey to play for Fenerbahçe until 2015.

He returned to Feyenoord in 2015 and played for two years for his beloved team. Together they won the Dutch League this year for the first time in 17 years.
Kuyt, 36, scored three goals in the final game of the season and his last game before retirement.

4- Frank James Lampard

Frank James Lampard, a Chelsea legend, announced his retirement in February 2017 after 20 years playing football.

Lampard started his career with West Ham in 1995 before moving to Chelsea in 2001, where he played for 13 years and made his legacy winning three Premier League titles. His team also won their only Champions League title in 2012.

He played one year for Manchester City before Joining New York City Fc in the U.S., where he played his last year as a footballer.

3- Xabier “Xabi” Alonso Olano

Xabi Alonso’s decision to retire was a shock for football fans, who thought that he could play at least one or two more years because of his amazing performance with his club Bayern Munich.

Alonso played in Real Sociedad in Spain from 2000 to 2004 before joining Liverpool, where he played until 2010, winning the Champions League title with the team in 2005. He moved to the Spanish giants Real Madrid in 2009 and played there until 2014 winning the Champions league with them in 2014.
He ended his career with Bayern Munich playing there from 2014 to 2017.

2- Philipp Lahm

Philipp Lahm is a legend in Bayern Munich and Germany. Lahm’s entire career was spent in Bayern Munich since joining the first team in 2002, with the exception of a two-year period, in which he was on loan to Stuttgart from 2003 to 2005.

Lahm won a Champions League title in 2013 and captained the German national team in their successful bid for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

1- Francesco Totti

Words cannot describe Roma’s fans feelings towards Francesco Totti in his last match with Roma against Genoa last month.

Totti announced his retirement after Roma decided not to offer him a new contract. Totti played from 1993 to 2017 for Roma and he refused to move to another club.

Totti won the Italian League title with Roma in 2001 and won the World Cup with Italy in 2006.

We lose legends every year and we hope that football generates great players like these legends.