Hertha Berlin midfielder Sami Khedira on Wednesday announced that he will be hanging up his football boots at the end of this season.
"Exactly 14 years ago to the day I was able to celebrate the championship with VfB Stuttgart. That was a wonderful day, today is one that is very difficult for me personally, because my football career will be over on Saturday," the official website of Hertha Berlin quoted Khedira as saying.
"It is a pretty tough step and it is hard for me to talk about, but it is the right decision. 15 years in professional football have left their mark and I have to honestly judge what I can and cannot do. And at the end of the day, gratitude outweighs everything that I was able to experience," he added.
The 2014 world champion, who moved to Hertha Berlin at the beginning of the year, wore the jersey with the flag on his chest eight times.
The midfielder made his professional debut for VfB Stuttgart in 2006 in Berlin's Olympic Stadium, of all places. After his breakthrough and the championship title in 2007 with the Stuttgart team, he moved to Real Madrid with an offensive urge.
Between 2010 and 2015, he won the UEFA Champions League and the Supercup once, the World Cup twice as well as a Spanish championship, two National Cups and a Supercup with the 'Royal'.
Then the 1.89-meter man moved to Juventus Turin - there he continued his title hunt with five championship titles, three cup wins and a Supercup success.
Probably the greatest success in Khedira's career was the 2014 world championship with the DFB team, for which the U21 European champions from 2009 played 77 international matches.
After 446 competitive games for Hertha, Turin, Madrid and Stuttgart, Khedira is now retiring.
( With inputs from ANI )
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