Youri Djorkaeff has retired from football after a glittering career that saw him play in the French international teams that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. The 38-year-old Djorkaeff had been due to play for the New York Red Bulls against Washington in the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference semi-finals on Sunday but was unable to do so due to an ankle injury. The Bulls lost and Djorkaeff confirmed his earlier decision to retire at the end of the US season. "I feel great even though I was unable to play in this last game." he said. "I have no regrets and achieved all I wanted to achieve in my career playing in all the top leagues of Europe. "But I felt that the time had come to call it a day. Physically I am still on top of my game but mentally it's more difficult."Djorkaeff, whose father was also a noted French international, began his career at Grenoble in 1984 going on to play for Strasbourg, Monaco and Paris St Germain. He moved to Inter Milan in 1996 for a successful three-year stint during which he played a key role in the France side that won the World Cup in Paris in 1998. He moved to Kaiserslautern in Germany from 1999 until 2002 before joining Sam Allardyce at Bolton Wanderers in the English Premiership for two years. After a brief spell with Blackburn, Djorkaeff joined the New York Red Bulls in April, 2005. He played 82 times for France between October 1993 and June 2003 and scored 28 goals. Asked what the highlight of his career had been Djorkaeff replied: "Winning the World Cup with France. "Each and every footballer dreams of doing that one day. The European title in 2000 was the icing on the cake. There was something magical about the French team in those days." Djorkaeff's retirement comes hard on the heels of that of goalkeeper Fabien Barthez and leaves just four of France's World Cup winning squad - Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet and Liliam Thuram - still being considered by coach Raymond Domenech.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Ciao Youri et merci !
Youri Djorkaeff has retired from football after a glittering career that saw him play in the French international teams that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. The 38-year-old Djorkaeff had been due to play for the New York Red Bulls against Washington in the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference semi-finals on Sunday but was unable to do so due to an ankle injury. The Bulls lost and Djorkaeff confirmed his earlier decision to retire at the end of the US season. "I feel great even though I was unable to play in this last game." he said. "I have no regrets and achieved all I wanted to achieve in my career playing in all the top leagues of Europe. "But I felt that the time had come to call it a day. Physically I am still on top of my game but mentally it's more difficult."Djorkaeff, whose father was also a noted French international, began his career at Grenoble in 1984 going on to play for Strasbourg, Monaco and Paris St Germain. He moved to Inter Milan in 1996 for a successful three-year stint during which he played a key role in the France side that won the World Cup in Paris in 1998. He moved to Kaiserslautern in Germany from 1999 until 2002 before joining Sam Allardyce at Bolton Wanderers in the English Premiership for two years. After a brief spell with Blackburn, Djorkaeff joined the New York Red Bulls in April, 2005. He played 82 times for France between October 1993 and June 2003 and scored 28 goals. Asked what the highlight of his career had been Djorkaeff replied: "Winning the World Cup with France. "Each and every footballer dreams of doing that one day. The European title in 2000 was the icing on the cake. There was something magical about the French team in those days." Djorkaeff's retirement comes hard on the heels of that of goalkeeper Fabien Barthez and leaves just four of France's World Cup winning squad - Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet and Liliam Thuram - still being considered by coach Raymond Domenech.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment