Officially.. Ibrahimovic announces retirement from football and bids farewell to Milan fans.

Monday, June 5, 2023 2:16 PM

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Abu Dhabi, June 5 /WAM/ Veteran Swedish international striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic (41 years old) bid farewell to the pitch after a career full of achievements, announcing his retirement from football at the end of the 2022-2023 season with his Italian club AC Milan. The player said goodbye to Milan fans after the match, which the team won 3-1 against visitors Verona on Sunday evening in the final round of the Italian league. The team's players organized a honorary guard for their veteran teammate, who had a long and trophy-laden career with Milan and the clubs he played for before announcing his retirement at the end of the 2022-2023 season. Ibrahimovic addressed the team's fans after the match, saying: "It's time to say goodbye to football." Injuries prevented Ibrahimovic from playing most of the past season, while he played a prominent role in Milan winning the Italian league title in the 2021-2022 season. AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli said before Sunday's match that he felt sad because Ibrahimovic would not be able to participate in the match against Verona. He said: "I spoke with him a lot in the past days. His future will be decided between him and the club." Ibrahimovic left a distinctive mark with most of the clubs he played for during his football career, and he holds the record as the all-time top scorer for the Swedish national team with 62 goals in 122 international matches he played for the team. Ibrahimovic started his professional career with Swedish club Malmö in 1999, then moved to Dutch club Ajax in 2001, then moved to Italian club Juventus in 2004, and then moved to Italian club Inter Milan in 2006. Ibrahimovic continued his career playing for Spanish club Barcelona from 2009 to 2011, knowing that he spent the 2010-2011 season with Italian club AC Milan on loan from Barcelona, then moved permanently to Milan the following season. Ibrahimovic played for French club Paris Saint-Germain from 2012 to 2016, and for Manchester United from 2016 to 2018, and moved to play for American club LA Galaxy from 2018 to 2019 before returning to Milan in 2019 to end his football career with the Italian club. Ibrahimovic won the league title in four different countries: starting with the Dutch league with Ajax in 2001-2002 and 2003-2004, then the Italian league with Juventus in the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 seasons, although Juventus was later stripped of both titles. Ibrahimovic also won the Italian league title with Inter Milan three times and with Milan twice, and won the Spanish league with Barcelona in the 2009-2010 season, and with Paris Saint-Germain won the French league title four times. Ibrahimovic also won titles in many other competitions with the clubs he played for. Ibrahimovic was a candidate for the Ballon d'Or award for the best player in the world several times, but his best result in the competition for this award was finishing fourth in 2013, while he won many other individual awards, including the Puskás Award for the best goal in 2013 in a vote by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).

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Officially.. Ibrahimovic announces retirement from football and bids farewell to Milan fans.

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